Test, validate, innovate
SmartBay is Ireland's National observation and validation facility for the marine and ocean energy sectors
SmartBay is Ireland’s national marine test site and observatory that provides continuous oceanographic and environmental data in near-real time. It hosts three types of facilities: a test site, data buoy, and subsea cabled observatory. These facilities can be accessed by users to test innovative and novel marine technologies.
The test site is ideally suited to facilitating the long-term deployment of sensors within a surface, or subsea environment. The SmartBay facility supports the test, demonstration and validation of novel technologies and products through deployments and data collection in a real marine-world environment. Support from a multidisciplinary team is provided to users throughout the project life-cycle.
The real-time data from the SmartBay subsea cabled observatory in Spiddal, co. Galway can be viewed here. The data currently includes a live video stream, the depth of the observatory node, the sea temperature and salinity, and estimates of the chlorophyll and turbidity levels in the water which give an indication of the volume of phytoplankton and other particles, such as sediment, in the water. Wave data from the data buoy is also available to view in real-time.
