{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,13]],"date-time":"2026-04-13T10:20:12Z","timestamp":1776075612415,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]],"date-time":"2023-06-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1686268800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000780","name":"European Union","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["101000825"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101000825"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000780","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The study of marine Lagrangian transport holds significant importance from a scientific perspective as well as for practical applications such as environmental-pollution responses and prevention (e.g., oil spills, dispersion\/accumulation of plastic debris, etc.). In this regard, this concept paper introduces the Smart Drifter Cluster: an innovative approach that leverages modern \u201cconsumer\u201d IoT technologies and notions. This approach enables the remote acquisition of information on Lagrangian transport and important ocean variables, similar to standard drifters. However, it offers potential benefits such as reduced hardware costs, minimal maintenance expenses, and significantly lower power consumption compared to systems relying on independent drifters with satellite communication. By combining low power consumption with an optimized, compact integrated marine photovoltaic system, the drifters achieve unlimited operational autonomy. With the introduction of these new characteristics, the Smart Drifter Cluster goes beyond its primary function of mesoscale monitoring of marine currents. It becomes readily applicable to numerous civil applications, including recovering individuals and materials at sea, addressing pollutant spills, and tracking the dispersion of marine litter. An additional advantage of this remote monitoring and sensing system is its open-source hardware and software architecture. This fosters a citizen-science approach, enabling citizens to replicate, utilize, and contribute to the improvement of the system. Thus, within certain constraints of procedures and protocols, citizens can actively contribute to the generation of valuable data in this critical field.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23125467","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]],"date-time":"2023-06-09T08:37:33Z","timestamp":1686299853000},"page":"5467","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["The Smart Drifter Cluster: Monitoring Sea Currents and Marine Litter Transport Using Consumer IoT Technologies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4537-2903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Silvia","family":"Merlino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISMAR-CNR), 19032 Lerici, SP, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1246-3128","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Calabr\u00f2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MDM TEAM S.r.l., 50121 Firenze, FI, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5137-1405","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlotta","family":"Giannelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics and Informatics \u201cUlisse Dini\u201d, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, FI, Italy"}]},{"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Marini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MDM TEAM S.r.l., 50121 Firenze, FI, Italy"}]},{"given":"Marco","family":"Pagliai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MDM TEAM S.r.l., 50121 Firenze, FI, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2458-5421","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lorenzo","family":"Sacco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics and Informatics \u201cUlisse Dini\u201d, University of Florence, 50134 Firenze, FI, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0276-2813","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Bianucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISMAR-CNR), 19032 Lerici, SP, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"981","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csr.2007.01.005","article-title":"Surface circulation in the central Mediterranean Sea as deduced from Lagrangian drifters in the 1990s","volume":"27","author":"Poulain","year":"2007","journal-title":"Cont. 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