NA24OARX021G0025
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
Purpose: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by overgrowth of algae in oceans and rivers.
They release dangerous toxins, affect real-estate prices, and kill marine life/poison shellfish.
This costs $17B annually in economic damage.
Ocean monitoring for HABs uses satellites, but these cannot see some types of HABs against the background of natural algae until they are well developed/already dangerous.
They also don't work well near shorelines where humans encounter HABs.
Our solution to this is OceanAlgaeTracker (OAT), a sensor buoy that will be capable of measuring the levels of the 5 major groups of algae independently by fluorescence.
This will allow OAT to detect HABs earlier and will help correct satellite data.
OAT will be low COGS (~$3000), light (10lbs), easy to set up and will have sophisticated anti-biofouling systems.
It will be designed to minimise recalibration and to be hot swappable with a new unit instead of doing maintenance on the water, reducing costs as a single boat can swap-out dozens of units.
It will communicate with shore via satellite connection and be solar powered.
Customers in water remediation, tribal, municipal, and state ocean monitoring agencies are the target market and have expressed interest.
They release dangerous toxins, affect real-estate prices, and kill marine life/poison shellfish.
This costs $17B annually in economic damage.
Ocean monitoring for HABs uses satellites, but these cannot see some types of HABs against the background of natural algae until they are well developed/already dangerous.
They also don't work well near shorelines where humans encounter HABs.
Our solution to this is OceanAlgaeTracker (OAT), a sensor buoy that will be capable of measuring the levels of the 5 major groups of algae independently by fluorescence.
This will allow OAT to detect HABs earlier and will help correct satellite data.
OAT will be low COGS (~$3000), light (10lbs), easy to set up and will have sophisticated anti-biofouling systems.
It will be designed to minimise recalibration and to be hot swappable with a new unit instead of doing maintenance on the water, reducing costs as a single boat can swap-out dozens of units.
It will communicate with shore via satellite connection and be solar powered.
Customers in water remediation, tribal, municipal, and state ocean monitoring agencies are the target market and have expressed interest.
Awardee
Funding Goals
18 CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION 19 WEATHER-READY NATION 20 HEALTHY OCEANS 21 RESILIENT COASTAL COMMUNITIES AND ECONOMIES
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Boulder,
Colorado
803012337
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Aquarealtime was awarded
Project Grant NA24OARX021G0025
worth $174,974
from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in August 2024 with work to be completed primarily in Boulder Colorado United States.
The grant
has a duration of 5 months and
was awarded through assistance program 11.021 NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity NOAA SBIR FY 2024 Phase I.
SBIR Details
Research Type
SBIR Phase I
Title
A Low-cost, multispectral buoy for HAB detection capable of algal class discrimination
Abstract
Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are caused by overgrowth of algae in oceans and rivers. They release dangerous toxins, affect real-estate prices, and kill marine life/poison shellfish. This costs $17B annually in economic damage. Ocean monitoring for HABs uses satellites, but these cannot see some types of HABs against the background of natural algae until they are well developed/already dangerous. They also don’t work well near shorelines where humans encounter HABs. Our solution to this is OceanAlgaeTracker (OAT), a sensor buoy that will be capable of measuring the levels of the 5 major groups of algae independently by fluorescence. This will allow OAT to detect HABs earlier and will help correct satellite data. OAT will be low COGs (~$3000), light (10lbs), easy to set up and will have sophisticated anti-biofouling systems. It will be designed to minimize recalibration and to be ‘hot swappable’ with a new unit instead of doing maintenance on the water, reducing costs as a single boat can swap-out dozens of units. It will communicate with shore via satellite connection and be solar powered. Customers in water remediation, tribal, municipal, and state ocean monitoring agencies are the target market and have expressed interest.
Topic Code
9.2
Solicitation Number
NOAA-OAR-TPO-2024-2008184
Status
(Complete)
Last Modified 7/7/25
Period of Performance
8/1/24
Start Date
1/31/25
End Date
Funding Split
$175.0K
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$175.0K
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to NA24OARX021G0025
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
NA24OARX021G0025
SAI Number
NA24OARX021G0025-002
Award ID URI
None
Awardee Classifications
Small Business
Awarding Office
1305N2 DEPT OF COMMERCE NOAA
Funding Office
1333BR OFC OF PROG.PLANNING&INTEGRATION
Awardee UEI
DRLXBJW2ZNA4
Awardee CAGE
87BR5
Performance District
CO-02
Senators
Michael Bennet
John Hickenlooper
John Hickenlooper
Modified: 7/7/25