{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T03:49:26Z","timestamp":1768276166688,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,9,9]],"date-time":"2016-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1473379200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper presents a robotic team suited for bottom sediment sampling and retrieval in mudflats, targeting environmental monitoring tasks. The robotic team encompasses a four-wheel-steering ground vehicle, equipped with a drilling tool designed to be able to retain wet soil, and a multi-rotor aerial vehicle for dynamic aerial imagery acquisition. On-demand aerial imagery, properly fused on an aerial mosaic, is used by remote human operators for specifying the robotic mission and supervising its execution. This is crucial for the success of an environmental monitoring study, as often it depends on human expertise to ensure the statistical significance and accuracy of the sampling procedures. Although the literature is rich on environmental monitoring sampling procedures, in mudflats, there is a gap as regards including robotic elements. This paper closes this gap by also proposing a preliminary experimental protocol tailored to exploit the capabilities offered by the robotic system. Field trials in the south bank of the river Tagus\u2019 estuary show the ability of the robotic system to successfully extract and transport bottom sediment samples for offline analysis. The results also show the efficiency of the extraction and the benefits when compared to (conventional) human-based sampling.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s16091461","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,9,9]],"date-time":"2016-09-09T10:36:06Z","timestamp":1473417366000},"page":"1461","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Sediment Sampling in Estuarine Mudflats with an Aerial-Ground Robotic Team"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Pedro","family":"Deusdado","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"INTROSYS SA, Introsys\u2014Global Control System Designers, Parkim- Parque Industrial da Moita Rua dos Girass\u00f3is, n\u00b01, Lote 6, Armaz\u00e9m A3, 2860-274 Moita, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Magno","family":"Guedes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INTROSYS SA, Introsys\u2014Global Control System Designers, Parkim- Parque Industrial da Moita Rua dos Girass\u00f3is, n\u00b01, Lote 6, Armaz\u00e9m A3, 2860-274 Moita, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INTROSYS SA, Introsys\u2014Global Control System Designers, Parkim- Parque Industrial da Moita Rua dos Girass\u00f3is, n\u00b01, Lote 6, Armaz\u00e9m A3, 2860-274 Moita, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0409-6380","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Eduardo","family":"Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Paulo","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9051-5320","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Louren\u00e7o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2332-764X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ricardo","family":"Mendon\u00e7a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4357-1546","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro","family":"Santana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ISCTE-Instituto Universit\u00e1rio de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto de Telecomunica\u00e7\u00f5es (IT), 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Corisco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Ci\u00eancias e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, E.N. 10 km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8506-6679","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Ci\u00eancias e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, E.N. 10 km 139.7, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Portugal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ag\u00eancia Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA), Ag\u00eancia Portuguesa do Ambiente, I.P., Rua da Murgueira, 9\/9A-Zambujal, Ap. 7585, 2610-124 Amadora, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Raquel","family":"Caldeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INTROSYS SA, Introsys\u2014Global Control System Designers, Parkim- Parque Industrial da Moita Rua dos Girass\u00f3is, n\u00b01, Lote 6, Armaz\u00e9m A3, 2860-274 Moita, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6348-1847","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Barata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CTS-UNINOVA, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), FCT Campus, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Luis","family":"Flores","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"INTROSYS SA, Introsys\u2014Global Control System Designers, Parkim- Parque Industrial da Moita Rua dos Girass\u00f3is, n\u00b01, Lote 6, Armaz\u00e9m A3, 2860-274 Moita, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"973","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2004.03.001","article-title":"A review of factors affecting the release and bioavailability of contaminants during sediment disturbance events","volume":"30","author":"Eggleton","year":"2004","journal-title":"Environ. 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