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

OIA - 2137882 NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: A Globally Coordinated, Universally-Accessible Digital Twin Network for the Coral Reef Blue EconomyThis project proposes to develop a “digital twin” technology to improve stewardship of coral reef ecosystems. Digital twins are virtual replicas and the use of this technology is growing in many sectors, providing opportunities to collaborate virtually, visualize entire systems, intake sensor data and update system status in real time, design what-if scenarios, predict results of proposed interventions, and create strategies to improve the real-world features that the twin represents virtually.

This technology has not yet been applied to analysis and stewardship of coral reefs but has the potential to facilitate the collaboration among diverse interest groups that is needed to preserve these crucial ecosystems. The team has identified three critical gaps that limit the utility of scientific knowledge in the management, conservation, and restoration of coral reef ecosystems which they are confident can be addressed by the digital twin approach: i) lack of a whole systems approach, ii) absence of a global platform for data integration, analysis and visualization, and iii) lack of universal access to data and knowledge, which in turn prohibits sharing and collaboration.

The end goal of the effort is a global-scale, interconnected network of digital reefs with the potential to transform the management, conservation, restoration, and sustainable harvest of coral ecosystems for the 21st century blue economy.

Coral reef ecosystems play a central role in the global blue economy. In the US, coral reefs contribute billions of dollars to the blue economy each year, create jobs, and protect coastal infrastructure. However, coral reefs everywhere are declining at a pace and scale unprecedented in human history.

This project incorporates valuable diversity and expertise, including includes the University of Guam, an accredited Asian American, native American, Pacific Islander-serving institution; the Marshall Islands Conservation Society (MICS), with strong stakeholder interests in coral reef sustainability; and the Nature Conservancy, whose coral reef program is established in over thirty countries around the world. All products generated as part of this research will be made publicly available via a project-specific website and existing portals as well as other media such as film, gamification, and collaborations with large public aquariums in the US.

This strong network will help ensure co-development with a broad range of stakeholders and global utilization of the tools developed.

The team will develop the prototype Coral Reef digital twin on Palmyra Atoll, a US territory in the Pacific, and then during Phase 2 will expand the digital twin model to priority sites identified by collaborators from federal agencies and conservation organizations. The 3-dimensional virtual replica of a living reef will facilitate the integration, analysis and accessibility of a diversity of geological, physical, chemical, biological and socio-economic data and models from anywhere in the world.

The data will be incorporated into a holistic representation of the living reef that can be visualized in 3-D, analyzed at any point in space and time, and simulated under different, future scenarios. Connection between the physical reef and its digital replica, via sensors, robotics and satellites, will allow the digital twin to receive and integrate updates on coral reef status in near-real time, providing critical information to managers, restoration practitioners, and stakeholders, including tourism operators, fishermen and coastal communities.

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.