In the framework of Deep-Sea mining, Global sea mineral resources (GSR) a subsidiary of the DEME group (www.deme-group.com) is researching possible deep-sea mining exploration. One of the requirements of the International seabed authority is to complete an extensive environmental baseline of the area of interest to study the potential environmental effects of deep-sea mineral deposits exploration and exploitation. Satellite remote sensing is suggested to understand temporal and spatial variability of physical characteristics and phytoplankton dynamics. So far, the applications of satellite remote sensing are confined to the surface and sub-surface layer of the ocean. Linking these data with environmental conditions at the deep-sea mining zones is crucial to understand the ecosystem and to model and assess the possible environmental impacts arising from exploration for marine minerals in the Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Area.
The student will by using remote satellite sensing data of chlorophyll-a concentration, Sea surface temperature and sea level from NASA (Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center and Ocean Biology Processing Group) and ESA (Copernicus marine environment monitoring service) platforms. R and GIS can be used to plot results and predict ocean’s health over long time series and large spatial scale.
In addition, the student will be working in an industrial environment and will be included in the company’s specific research teams (DEME and GSR) involved in the complete deep-sea mining research process cycle going from design, data collection, processing and quality control, improving and validating preliminary deep-sea explorations.
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