For more than 25 years, the Flemish Environment Agency (VMM) has had several monitoring networks in place to report on the quality of surface waters and sediments in Flanders. These monitoring networks are supported by an extensive and, over the years, systematically grown custom-made software package that is no longer adapted to the rapidly evolving requirements in the field. This measurement software therefore needs to be completely redesigned.

This project comprises three innovative subprojects that are necessary to adapt the measurement networks to these new challenges, namely

• the electronic sampling and field observation form,
• an Unmanned Survey Platform whether or not linked to a multi-parameter probeand 
• an environmental damage calculation module.

The electronic sampling and field observation form should allow registrations to be made in the field, independent of a network connection, and automatically loaded into the database afterwards. This obviates the need to record on paper in the field and copy it into the database afterwards, thus saving both quality and time.

An Unmanned Survey Platform is envisaged within the seabed monitoring network: a mobile vessel for bathymetric determination of silt thicknesses, water depths of e.g. sediment traps, ponds with shallow water depths. This vessel should be able to navigate and measure Realtime Kinematic (RTK)-accurately.

An ability to sail autonomously within a predetermined survey field is an added value. All collected measurement data must be easily stored and processed in existing databases.

Environmental damage calculation forms the final element of the environmental incident component of the water measurement network. Based on objective criteria such as field observations, field measurements, lab analyses and comparison with reference data, the environmental damage caused is quantified and monetised. From this quantification, appropriate enforcement of the environmental damage caused can be substantiated.