NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Digital Reefs: A Globally Coordinated, Universally Accessible Digital Twin Network for the Coral Reef Blue Economy

NSF 融合加速器轨道 E：数字珊瑚礁：全球协调、普遍可访问的珊瑚礁蓝色经济数字孪生网络

• 批准号: 2230734
• 负责人: Anne Cohen
• 金额: $ 498.08万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2230734&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Convergence; Accelerator; Track; Digital

Coral Reefs support almost one billion people worldwide, yet development of a thriving Coral Reef Blue Economy is threatened by unprecedented global climate change and lack of universal access to the data and tools needed to address 21st century challenges. Digital Reefs leverages Digital Twin Technology, Gaming Engine Platforms and Cloud Analytics to transform the way humans’ access, interact with, and use scientific data and models to solve societies’ most pressing environmental problems. Digital Reefs delivers intuitive, immersive 4-dimensional visualizations of each coral reef ecosystem and a suite of interactive user-inspired tools to empower millions of stakeholders around the world with the most effective decision-making tools in a rapidly changing ocean. Within 5 years, Digital Reefs, scaled to the globally interconnected Digital Reefs Network, will be the go-to tool for effective management, conservation, and restoration of coral reefs in the 21st century, and for communicating and sharing data, knowledge and experience. Ultimately, the Digital Reefs technology framework will provide the blueprint for expansion of Digital Twin technology oceanwide.Occupying less than 1% of the ocean surface, coral reef ecosystems play a disproportionately large role in the global economy, with an estimated annual value of $1 trillion. In the US, 4 million acres of coral reef support hundreds of thousands of jobs and protect vast expanses of coastal property, including strategic military infrastructure. Yet the sustainable growth of the Coral Reef Blue Economy is threatened by unprecedented climate change and a lack of access to intuitive, actionable data that can help to solve problems. The project bridges this gap, leveraging 21st century Digital Twin technologies to build digital replicas of actual coral reef ecosystems, continuously updated in near-real time by sensor and satellite data transmitted from the physical reef. The Digital Reefs platform employs Visualization softwares and Gaming Engines to create intuitive, immersive, interactive 4-D visualizations of each reef, and a suite of user-inspired decision-making tools via an easily navigable user-interface. Our fully functional, interactive Digital Reefs prototype of Palmyra Atoll, delivered in two years, will include 4 Data Layers (3-D reef bathymetry, temperature, currents, and benthic communities and changes through time) and 4 User Tools that facilitate climate risk assessment, ecosystem service optimization, effective restoration designs and invasive species and plastics monitoring. A modular platform design will allow easy integration of additional data and tools, guided by user-inspired research conducted throughout the project. Application of gaming engines to create immersive, Virtual Reality experiences with scientific data will deliver living coral reef ecosystems into homes, classrooms and boardrooms alike, to transform our relationship with the ocean and the Blue Economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

珊瑚礁在全球范围内支持近十亿人口，但是蓬勃发展的珊瑚礁蓝色经济的发展受到前所未有的全球气候变化的威胁，并且缺乏对解决21世纪挑战所需的数据和工具的普遍访问。数字珊瑚礁利用数字双技术，游戏引擎平台和云分析来改变人类访问，与科学数据和模型的访问方式，以解决社会最紧迫的环境问题。数字珊瑚礁提供了每个珊瑚礁生态系统的直观，沉浸式的4维可视化，并提供一套交互式用户启发的工具，以在快速变化的海洋中使用最有效的决策工具，使世界各地的数百万利益相关者能够为世界各地的数百万利益相关者提供权力。在5年之内，数字珊瑚礁将扩展到全球互连的数字礁石网络，将成为21世纪有效管理，保护和恢复珊瑚礁的首选工具，并用于沟通和共享数据，知识和经验。最终，数字珊瑚礁技术框架将为扩展数字双技术的扩展提供蓝图。占有不到海洋表面的1％，珊瑚礁生态系统在全球经济中起着不成比例的重要作用，估计年度价值为1万亿美元。在美国，有400万英亩的珊瑚礁支持数十万个工作岗位，并保护包括战略军事基础设施在内的沿海财产的广泛扩张。然而，珊瑚礁蓝色经济的可持续增长受到前所未有的气候变化的威胁，以及无法获得直觉，可行的数据，这可以帮助解决问题。该项目弥合了这一差距，利用21世纪的数字双技术来构建实际珊瑚礁生态系统的数字复制品，并在接近真实的时间内通过传感器和从物理礁传递的卫星数据不断更新。 Digital Reefs平台员工可视化软件和游戏发动机，以创建每个礁石的直观，沉浸式，交互式4-D可视化，并通过易于导航用户界面来创建一套以用户启发的决策工具。 Our fully functional, interactive Digital Reefs prototype of Palmyra Atoll, delivered in two years, will include 4 Data Layers (3-D reef bathymetry, temperature, currents, and benthic communities and changes throughout time) and 4 User Tools that facilitate climate risk assessment, ecosystem service optimization, effective restoration designs and invasive species and plastics monitoring.模块化平台设计将允许在整个项目中进行的用户启发研究的指导下，轻松整合其他数据和工具。使用科学数据来创建具有沉浸式的虚拟现实体验的游戏发动机的应用将使活着的珊瑚礁生态系统将其交付到房屋，教室和董事会中，以改变我们与海洋与蓝色经济的关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为通过基金会的知识优点和广泛的影响，通过评估来通过评估来获得珍贵的支持。