Available systems on the market are primarily designed for deep-water studies being thus very expensive or capable of collecting small volumes of sample (50-100 mL) usually using syringes. In collaboration, with Aquatic Biotechnology, a small SME (PYME) with experience in the field of marine instrumentation, we have developed a novel autosampler system. This system is able to collect 24 water samples of volumes up to 500-1000 mL, allowing to measure not only of nutrients, but also suspended organic carbon and solids, chlorophyll a or abundance and structure of the microbial community etc. during extreme events when sampling is not possible.

The system is programmed wirelessly before deployment determining the time of sampling for each port, the required volume and the number of bags to be filled.

The first tests have been run and the systems works adequately collecting samples that do not alter the characteristics and without a cross contamination within the system.

The next steps are to install a remotely programmable electronic system that will determine the frequency and volume of samples. The finalized product will be tested under normal weather conditions, before being deployed at a fixed position, with the permission of the Maritime and Port Authority of the bay area and the PNBC administration.