Bastianini, M.

Bortoluzzi, Giovanni

Focaccia, Paola

Marini, Mauro

Paschini, E.

Penna, E.

Pugnetti, A.

Raicich, F.

Ravaioli, Mariangela

Spagnoli, Federico

Stanghellini, Giuseppe

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Real Time Marine Data Acquisition: the Coastal
Oceanographic Observatory Network in Adriatic
Sea
M. Marini1, M. Bastianini2, G. Bortoluzzi3, P. Focaccia3, E. Paschini1,
P. Penna1, A. Pugnetti2, M. Ravaioli3, F. Raicich4, F. Spagnoli1, G.
Stanghellini3
1, Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Ancona, Italy
2, Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Venezia, Italy
3, Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Bologna, Italy
4, Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Trieste, Italy
m.marini@ismar.cnr.it
Abstract
Currently, several operational marine centres issue routine seasonal forecasts pro-
duced with coupled ocean-atmosphere models. For good result they require also
real-time knowledge of the state of marine area as regard as oceanographic and at-
mospheric parameters. Effectiveness of marine climate knowledge and predictability
resides in fast, reliable, scattered and numerous information on the initial marine and
atmospheric conditions. The aim of this work is to present a review of the existing
real time stations in the Adriatic sea and a critic state of the art with the aim to pro-
pose a new single and standardized coastal oceanographic observatory network based
on previous existing oceanographic buoys set up by different projects and institutions
and with various features. The network ISMAR could be based on various oceano-
graphic buoys located along the Adriatic Sea coastal waters transmitting real time
data, accessible, after a data quality control and sensor/instrument field calibration
validation, on internet by a web site. In this way it will be possible to have a single
system of real time oceanographic and meteorological standardized data available for
regional stakeholders, policy makers, economic operators, environmental safety and
tourists. Data will also be useful to improve forecast systems active for the Adriatic
Sea.
1 Introduction
In the states most advanced in the world,
about two decades ago, officials agency
of environmental protection and scientists
realized that the nation had to integrate
the assets of its many sea and coastal ob-
serving systems and focus them on pro-
viding solutions to societal needs solu-
tions that address the missions of several
agencies and organizations. Catastrophic
weather events, coastal pollution, harmful
algal blooms, declines in living marine re-
sources, and climate change underscore the
importance of creating a more integrated
approach to providing data and information
needed to manage and mitigate the impacts
of human activities, natural disasters, and
Observing Systems and Forecasting
Figure 1: Plot of air (AT) and sea (ST) temperature form 23 to 25 November 2010
climate change on goods and services pro-
vided by the sea, and coasts. While the
nation has developed some of the most so-
phisticated and comprehensive lakes, estu-
arine, and marine monitoring programs in
the world, these individual programs are
not as robust, effective, or comprehensive
as they could be in protecting the societal
and economic security of the nation, and
therefore in providing the quality of life our
citizens expect [1, 2].
The Marine Environment and Security for
the European Area (MERSEA) Strand-1
Project was established in January 2003 to
conduct an 18-month preparatory study of
the key issues in setting up the marine el-
ements of the joint European Commission
(EC) and European Space Agency (ESA)
initiative on Global Monitoring for Envi-
ronment and Security (GMES).
The motivation for the marine element of
GMES arises from the wide range of inter-
national bodies, treaties, conventions, and
organizations at global, regional, and na-
tional levels concerned with monitoring
and protecting the marine environment in
Europe. The United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982)
provides the regulatory framework at the
global level for all activities at sea. Sup-
porting these are the International Conven-
tion for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL 1973/1978), the frame-
work for preventing dumping of pollutant
material (London Dumping Convention
1972), and the International Convention
2256
Marine research at CNR
Table 1: AIOOS network components positions
on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response,
and Cooperation (OPRC 1990). These
are complemented by specific conventions
and agreements for particular maritime re-
gions, such as the Oslo and Paris Com-
mission (OSPAR) for the Northeast At-
lantic and the European shelf seas, the
Helsinki Convention (HELCOM) for the
Baltic, the Barcelona Convention for the
Mediterranean, and the Copenhagen and
Bonn agreements. These legal frameworks
set the foundation for policies on sustain-
able development and protection of the
seas. Their overarching goal is to estab-
lish a sound balance between economic
and social benefit on one hand and ac-
ceptable environmental impact on the other
hand. International agreements place obli-
gations on nations to monitor the marine
environment. GMES (www.gmes.info) is
a response at the European level to pro-
vide a common infrastructure for meet-
ing this need, while serving as the Eu-
ropean contribution to the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
(www.geoss.org/) [3].
In the Adriatic sea, the first approaches of
coastal oceanographic observatory systems
are beginning with ISMAR-CNR network.
As an example of data acquisition, Figure 1
reports near-real time data of air tempera-
ture and sea temperature at different depths
at Trieste, from 23 to 25 November 2010.
The Adriatic Sea is the most continental
basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies be-
tween the Italian peninsula and the Balkans
and is elongated longitudinally, with its
major axis (about 800 km by 200 km)
in NW-SE direction. The basin shows
clear morphological differences along both
the longitudinal and the transversal axes
and has been divided into northern, mid-
dle and southern subbasins [4]. The Adri-
atic Sea has complicated morphology and
bathymetry. The western coast is low and
generally sandy, while the eastern coast is
rugged, with multiple islands and coves.
The northern subbasin, extending from the
northernmost coastline to the 100 m iso-
bath, is extremely shallow (mean depth
2257
Observing Systems and Forecasting
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 2: Geographical position of buoy, research vessel (Urania, G. Dallaporta, Tec-
nopesca II), platform and other fixed sites (red circles) located in Adriatic Sea managed
by Institute of Marine Science (ISMAR), National Research Council (CNR)
30 m) with a very gradual topographic
slope along its major axis. It is charac-
terized by strong river runoff; indeed, the
Po and the other northern Italian rivers
are believed to contribute about 20% of
the whole Mediterranean river runoff [5].
The middle Adriatic is a transition zone
between northern and southern subbasins,
with the three Jabuka depressions reach-
ing 270 m depth. The southern subbasin is
characterized by a wide depression about
1200 m in depth. Water exchange with
the Mediterranean takes place through the
Otranto Strait, which has an 800 m deep
sill. The present study focuses on the
northern and central continental Adriatic
margin, where circulation is mainly con-
trolled by wind stress and river discharge.
Two currents dominate circulation in the
Adriatic: the West Adriatic Current (WAC)
flows toward southeast along the western
(Italian) coast, and the East Adriatic Cur-
rent (EAC) flowing northwest along the
eastern (Croatian) coast [4, 6]. Being a
continental basin, the Adriatic Sea circu-
lation and water masses are strongly influ-
enced by atmospheric forcing [7, 8, 9]. The
major winds blowing over the Adriatic Sea
are Bora and Sirocco.
Bora winds are generally from the north-
east and are associated with a high-pressure
system over central Europe [3]. Bora is a
cold and dry wind where air spills through
gaps in the Dinaric situated along the Adri-
atic’s eastern shore, resulting in intense
wind jets at specific points along the Adri-
2258
Marine research at CNR
Table 2: Some common network parameter
atic eastern coast due to catabatic effects
[8]. The Bora wind system causes the free
sea surface to rise near the coast and this in-
tensifies a coastal current toward the south
(WAC).
2 Buoys, platforms and
other fixed site
Table 1 showes the list of the network that
are operative at the moment. Other systems
(e.g. “S6”, 41°32.755’ N, 16°02.675’ E),
that were active until a few years ago could
join the infrastructure in the next future.
ISMAR-CNR operates several multi-
parametric observing systems, most of
them are placed along the Italian coasts
and transmit data in real time to the receiv-
ing stations at coast (Acqua alta, S1, E1).
Some of the systems such as Paloma and
TeleSenigallia are operating in near real
time while and S6 is not operating in real
time now, but can be developed in this di-
rection. The station locations are reported
in Figure 2. Table 2 showes the list of the
common network parameters.
3 Integrated ocean ob-
serving system benefit
Adriatic Integrated Ocean Observing Sys-
tem (AIOOS) will provide data and infor-
mation products needed to significantly im-
prove the nation’s ability to achieve these
four interrelated societal benefits:
• Improving predictions of climate
changes and weather and their conse-
quences on coastal communities and na-
tional economy;
• Improving the safety and efficiency of
maritime operations;
• Mitigating effects of natural disasters;
• Protecting and restoring healthy coastal
ecosystems.
These benefits will be accomplished by ef-
ficiently linking observations to modeling
via data management and communications
to provide services, products, and decision-
2259
Observing Systems and Forecasting
support tools needed to achieve these goals.
To maximize the societal benefits, AIOOS
must focus development efforts on ready
assets and the greatest opportunities for
valuable, synergistic uses. AIOOS is a
complex system of systems that is best im-
plemented in stages. Phased implementa-
tion requires the prioritization of existing
assets that monitor variables that are essen-
tial and common to more than one societal
benefit. The highest priority assets mea-
sure these core variables, using both in situ
and remote sensing platforms, to provide
new or existing products that can be im-
proved by integrating data from more than
one program, institution, or agency.
4 The future goals
• Compare existing ocean observing sys-
tems data to check the quality and con-
sistency of the products and information;
• Identify and develop high-priority sen-
sors and associated algorithms;
• Production of well-documented, sustain-
able, reliable, and quality-controlled data
streams produced by existing monitoring
assets;
• Choice of critical ocean variables and
provisioning of high-quality, well-
documented data in a timely fashion;
• Integrated data products for more accu-
rate and timely assessment of environ-
mental conditions.
References
[1] A. Artegiani, D. Bregant, E. Paschini, N. Pinardi, F. Raicich, and A. Russo. The
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[2] Y. Desaubies. The MERSEA Integrated Project. Ocean Weather Forecasting: An
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[3] C.E. Dorman. February 2003 marine atmospheric conditions and the bora over the
northern Adriatic. J. Geophys. Res., 112:C03S03, 2007.
[4] J.A. Johannessen, P.Y. Le Traon, I. Robinson, et al. Marine Environment and Secu-
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[8] P.M. Poulain and F. Raicich. Forcings, in Physical Oceanography of the Adriatic Sea
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Real Time Marine Data Acquisition: The Coastal Oceanographic Observatory Network in the Adriatic sea.

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Real Time Marine Data Acquisition: The Coastal Oceanographic Observatory Network in the Adriatic sea.

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