Pulse came together after hundreds of conversations with farmers all around the world. Everyone we spoke with wanted to know what was going on in the environment around their farms but the currently available suite of tools was lacking. Local weather forecasts were good for knowing if it was going to be a hot, cold, or rainy day for the farm workers, but that didn’t help tell you what was going on beneath the surface of the ocean where the fish were. Daily tide tables gave you an idea of that day’s water currents, but it didn’t factor in any other variables that might be affecting the water conditions that day. Sensors could be used to check some water parameters, but usually only at a single point and they often failed, were uncalibrated or required time to set up and use each day, often they would get left on shore. In practice farmers were not able to find a suitable source of information that provided them with important environmental information such as water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll levels, and dissolved oxygen concentration. Land farmers always know the air temperature, humidity, rainfall and the multiple day forecast to help them make important management decisions. All of this weather information is thanks to sophisticated technology that we all rely on to know when we should take or leave the umbrella at home. Ocean farmers were not so lucky.
At the same time that farmers were telling us they were struggling to understand what was happening in the environment around their farms, satellite remote sensing technology was continuing to advance. More accurate and higher resolution data was becoming available and best of all with multiple satellites worldwide coverage was now viable. These advances have come after decades of research that has led to steady technological improvements. Now with cheaper than ever computing devices and a radical reduction in the cost of transportation to space these advances are expected to accelerate. At Umitron we saw the opportunity to bring this ground breaking technology to fish, shellfish and seaweed farmers around the world.
Satellite ocean data offers what farmers told us they were looking for. It allows anyone to see high resolution information about the ocean conditions at any location and at anytime. Additionally, models help us forecast what will happen in the future allowing us to make better decisions today, the same advantage that land farmers have had for decades. With Pulse we have made all of this data easy to visualize and organize. As the quality of satellite data rapidly improves we will be at the forefront of bringing this new and valuable information to the aquaculture industry regardless of the species they grow or the size of their farm. As long as you have access to the internet then you have access to information about the ocean around you thanks to Pulse. We are continuing to listen to our users and we would also love to hear from you. A mobile application will be available soon to make Pulse even easier to check in more places and on more devices.
Sign up for a free account and try Pulse at www.pulse.umitron.com
