SIMON

Smart Water Protection Inspired by 4-Dimensional Underwater Monitoring

Duration: November 1, 2025 – October 31, 2027

Consortium:

Contact Person (Coordinator)

Dr. Jana Hinners

Hamburg Port Authority
Brooktorkai 1
20457 Hamburg

jana.hinners@hpa.hamburg.de

What the Project Is About

The SIMON project is developing an autonomous underwater monitoring system designed to significantly improve water monitoring—which has so far been sporadic and labor-intensive, particularly in the Port of Hamburg. Traditional measurement methods are often expensive or technically limited, especially in shallow-water areas that are difficult to access. At the same time, comprehensive environmental monitoring is essential for the sustainable management of anthropogenically influenced waters, for example, for the early detection of oxygen-depleted zones or pollutant inputs. For these reasons, a portable underwater drone is being developed that can automatically collect precise measurement data—even in conditions of high turbidity, strong currents, and heavy shipping traffic.

The project’s primary objectives are to enable fully automated, 4-dimensional environmental monitoring of water bodies and thereby achieve precise, repeatable, and high-temporal-resolution measurements. To this end, a wireless, autonomous underwater drone is being further developed, specifically designed for flexible and robust environmental measurements in complex aquatic environments. Another focus is on integrating intelligent algorithms to reliably detect unusual measurement trends and thereby automatically identify anomalies in the water body. By combining these technological advancements, the goal is ultimately to provide a cost-effective alternative to manual, labor-intensive measurement methods, making regular environmental monitoring resource-efficient, precise, and scalable

SIMON thus makes a significant contribution to the digitalization of water protection. The planned solution enables cost-effective, more frequent, and more precise measurements, strengthens the ecological assessment of urban water bodies, and lays the foundation for sustainable, proactive environmental monitoring in ports and rivers.