Digital solution to support navigation at harbor mouths

Thanks to the location of existing national ports, the maritime transport sector and ports have great potential for the Portuguese economy. Despite this, several constraints are faced in the management of maritime traffic and navigation safety at the entrance to the port mouths. Although there are several applications to support navigation, there are few services that provide permanently updated information on the quotas of the funds. This lack of information is especially relevant as it can limit accessibility to port infrastructures. In this context, this article aims to present the process of design and development of a navigation support solution, which integrates real-time information on estimated bathymetry in harbor mouths. In this way, a type 1 research methodology was adopted, starting with the framing of the fundamental theoretical concepts for the investigation. Then, the conceptualization and design of the high-fidelity prototype was carried out and the respective evaluation with users of the target audience, which contributed to the implementation of the final solution. Finally, this investigation resulted in the development of the NAVSAFETY solution, which is believed to be very useful for users of the identified profiles, as it presents information on the state of the sea and weather, specific information, such as the bathymetric estimate, and provides information of scientific interest, such as the evolution of depth values at the port mouths.