JERICO-NEXT TNA FOULSTOP "Fouling Protection for Marine Optical Systems"

This project consist to test in the Mediterranean sea environment an innovative technique to protect optical windows that are part of optical oceanographic sensors or more generally part of optical devices like underwater cameras and lights. The biofouling protection is achieved by a conductive layer that coats the optical window and is used to generate very low quantity of hypochlorous acid by controlled in situ chlorination of seawater. The FOULSTOP antifouling station equipped with 2 protected fluorometers, 1 unprotected fluorometer and a protected camera was deployed on the OBSEA seabed observatory from 5thof December 2018 to 21stof May 2019.