10169715Hyperspectral Satellite Mapping of Oceanic Resource and Human Impact Using Microbiome MarkersClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKThe Great South West (GSW) coastline underpins £1.5 billion of annual marine GVA, yet regulators, fishers and blue-carbon entrepreneurs still make critical decisions using monthly satellite snapshots and laboratory surveys that cost ~£30 k per square mile and arrive weeks too late. Terracusto's Digital-Ocean Feasibility Demonstrator tackles this data gap by fusing freely available Copernicus and NASA imagery with technician-free environmental-DNA (eDNA) analysis supplied by Plymouth-based subcontractor Rapidx Bio. Over six months---from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026---we will build and field-test a TRL-4 prototype that delivers multi-species, near-real-time intelligence at <£50 per sq mile. The platform ingests Sentinel-2 optical and Sentinel-1 radar scenes every five days, runs automated cloud masking and derives chlorophyll-a, turbidity and temperature in Terracusto's cloud environment at Plymouth Science Park. Each satellite pass is paired with seawater collected in Whitsand Bay (Cornwall) and Portland Harbour (Dorset) and processed within two hours on Rapidx's plasmonic qPCR cartridges---no wet lab or specialist operator required. A lightweight machine-learning pipeline, developed by Dr Nipun Sawhney, correlates both data streams and feeds a web dashboard that visualises ecosystem change, flags harmful-bloom risk and exports CSVs for regulators. The immediate beneficiaries are a local fisheries co-operative and a blue-carbon developer who have already drafted letters of intent to become paid pilot users. Wider regional impact includes faster biodiversity reporting for the Marine Management Organisation, more accurate baseline data for GSW's £2 billion Blue Economy growth plan, and high-skill digital jobs anchored in Plymouth. Success criteria are: (1) Pearson correlation =0.7 between satellite chlorophyll-a and qPCR algal markers; (2) dashboard latency under 48 hours; (3) monitoring cost proven below £50 per sq mile; and (4) two signed pilot contracts plus an investor term-sheet by month six. Deliverables comprise the TRL-4 data-fusion prototype, 40 QC-verified eDNA datasets, a user-tested dashboard, a white-paper summarising methods, and a business case for a tiered SaaS launch. This Launchpad project de-risks follow-on investment, positions Plymouth as the UK hub for digital-ocean services, and gives the GSW cluster a first-mover advantage in low-cost marine intelligence---directly addressing Innovate UK's Digital-Ocean priority.