Arutua Lagoon and the Black-Lipped Oyster
The black-lipped oyster, Pinctada Margaritifera, has been prized for centuries for producing exquisite black pearls. Located 368 km northeast of Tahiti in the Tuamotu archipelago of French Polynesia, Arutua atoll has become a crucial site for black pearl cultivation. In 2021, Arutua achieved a remarkable harvest of 1.7 million black pearls, marking it as the leading producer in the region. The sustainability of this valuable industry hinges on accurately mapping the oyster populations, a task expertly handled by the Pléiades Neo satellites.
Mapping Black Pearl Oyster Farms
Arutua hosts 74 registered pearl farms, concentrated around the atoll's main passage. The farming process is highly regulated, encompassing spat collection, meticulous farming practices, annual oyster cleaning, grafting after three years, harvesting two years later, and finally, pearl polishing. Pléiades Neo satellites play a critical role in mapping these farms, facilitating sustainable development programs that ensure the long-term viability of the black pearl industry.
Fish Traps and Pandemic Impact
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted traditional pearl farming activities, particularly affecting the mobility of Chinese grafters essential to the industry. To offset the economic impact, Arutua residents turned to fishing, using fish traps to capture parrotfish, groupers, and surgeonfish. These fish are then exported to Tahiti. Pléiades Neo imagery is instrumental in mapping these fish traps, providing essential data to evaluate the sustainability of this supplementary activity.
Lagoon Under Threat
On March 21, 2020, the Arutua lagoon faced an environmental threat when the 55-meter-long Chinese fishing vessel, Shen Gang Shun 1, ran aground on the atoll's western reef. The vessel, carrying 250 tonnes of fuel, 15 tonnes of fish, and 62 tonnes of bait, posed a significant pollution risk. In August 2021, the vessel was further moved and stabilized by shifting swells. Prior to its removal in May 2022, Pléiades Neo satellites mapped the grounding site, ensuring strict adherence to pollution control and ecosystem protection protocols during the operation, which included hydrocarbon pumping, fish cargo removal, and hull cutting.
Bathymetry and Environmental Monitoring
Pléiades Neo satellites provide vital data for monitoring the health of Polynesian lagoons. This includes bathymetric mapping, geomorphological assessments, vegetation cover mapping, hydro-climate monitoring, and tracking renewable resources and pearl food sources. These capabilities underscore the importance of advanced Earth observation technologies in managing and preserving delicate marine ecosystems.
Advanced Earth Observation with Pléiades Neo
Airbus' Pléiades Neo satellites represent a groundbreaking advancement in Earth observation. These satellites, exclusively financed, manufactured, owned, and managed by Airbus, offer exceptional 30 cm resolution imagery and precise geolocation accuracy. With rapid tasking capabilities and the ability to revisit any point on Earth at least twice daily, the Pléiades Neo constellation contributes approximately 500,000 km² of imagery daily to Airbus' OneAtlas platform. This platform provides immediate access to both fresh and archived data, enhanced by powerful analytics tools.
Equipped with advanced silicon carbide optical instruments, Pléiades Neo satellites also feature inter-satellite links via Airbus' SpaceDataHighway, enabling emergency acquisitions within 40 minutes. The very-high resolution imagery supports detailed image analysis, improving object recognition for diverse applications, from natural hazard assessment to urban planning.
Sectors: Aquaculture is a primary sector benefiting from Pléiades Neo, particularly in black pearl farming. The satellites provide detailed imagery and data that help optimize farming practices, ensuring sustainable growth and protecting the marine environment. For environmental monitoring, Pléiades Neo supports tracking changes in ecosystems, detecting pollution, and assessing the health of marine and terrestrial environments. In disaster management, the satellites offer rapid response capabilities and detailed imagery for assessing damage, planning recovery efforts, and mitigating future risks.
Applications: Farm mapping involves detailed mapping of black pearl oyster farms to monitor boundaries, water quality, and oyster health, ensuring optimal conditions for pearl production and preventing overexploitation. Fish trap monitoring is another key application, where the satellites map and monitor fish traps to assess the sustainability of fishing practices, ensure fish population health, and avoid overfishing in the lagoon. Pollution assessment utilizes imagery and data to evaluate and mitigate pollution risks, such as fuel spills from grounded vessels, ensuring timely and effective responses to environmental threats.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Targets: Imagery resolution is a crucial KPI, with Pléiades Neo offering a very-high resolution of 30 cm for detailed and accurate mapping, essential for precise monitoring and analysis. Geolocation accuracy is another key metric, with a native accuracy of 3.5 meters, providing reliable data for effective management and planning. The satellites' ability to revisit any point on Earth at least daily and rapid tasking capabilities are critical for real-time monitoring and response. Targets include ensuring sustainable aquaculture practices through accurate data for optimal farming and environmental protection, preserving ecosystems with detailed monitoring and assessment, and enhancing disaster risk reduction with rapid response capabilities and detailed damage assessment.
Enhancing Sustainability and Risk Management
The Pléiades Neo constellation excels in geolocation accuracy and spectral band information, facilitating various applications, including risk analysis and damage assessment for natural hazards. This new era in Earth observation, characterized by unmatched data quality and frequent updates, highlights the pivotal role of Pléiades Neo in reshaping Earth observation services across sectors. By providing critical data for sustainable aquaculture and environmental monitoring, Pléiades Neo satellites ensure informed decision-making in an increasingly information-driven world.