DMAND - Unmanned Marine Mapping and Monitoring for Offshore Energy

Ireland’s offshore wind sector is expanding rapidly, but traditional seabed surveys remain costly, time-consuming, and environmentally intrusive. DMAND, funded by the Research Ireland and co-funded by SEAI, is developing a new generation of fully unmanned survey workflows using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), drones, and seabed sensors. These methods aim to reduce survey costs and environmental impact, while improving data quality and responsiveness. The study area is the South Coast DMAP but research in future DMAPs will also take place. 

DMAND has two overall aims:

Aim 1: To develop a suite of integrated, unmanned mapping and monitoring approaches that build capacity, specifically for ORE developers in Ireland and internationally, and have wider uses in monitoring habitats and understanding seafloor dynamics and;
Aim 2: To develop a scientific workflow that reduces reliance on excessive privately acquired geophysical data, reuses an extensive archive of publicly available geophysical data.

Project Team

• PI: Dr Aaron Lim (UCC) – Marine geoscience and offshore survey innovation.
• Collaborators:
  • Dr Mike O’Shea (UCC) – Coastal and offshore engineering.
  • Dr Mark Coughlan (UCD) – Sediment transport and geotechnics.
  • Dr Paul Holloway (UCC) – GIS and spatial analysis.
  • Dr Kieran Hickey (UCC) – Coastal management and policy.
  • Prof Luis Conti (USP, Brazil) – UAV and remote sensing.
  • Dr Shauna Creane (UCC) – Sediment dynamics, MetOcean conditions.
• Postdoc: Luke O’Reilly – Sediment transport monitoring and ADCP calibration, project management.
• PhD Researchers:
  • Xiana Froxán Santacreu – Magnetometry processing, machine learning and optimised offshore survey design.
  • Vasileios Giannakopoulos – Seafloor classification, development of coupled mapping methods  and bedform velocity matrix.
• Research Assistant: Declan Tracey – Field logistics, project admin and stakeholder engagement.

By combining cutting-edge science with practical application, DMAND will help Ireland meet its renewable energy targets, reduce environmental pressures, and position Irish research at the forefront of offshore innovation.

This research is funded by the Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future program and co-funded by SEAI.