Integrated marine measurements in Civitavecchia, near Rome

Integrated observing systems are important tools for marine monitoring, as they allow acquisitions and record of ecological time series. Integration of time-series monitoring efforts is recognized as a priority in national and international scientific programs, being necessary to better understand how marine ecosystems will change not only in response to anthropogenic impacts, but also to identify trends in their natural evolution. Coastal ecosystems are areas particularly sensitive to climate changes and human impacts, consequently they deserve to be the subject of time-series observation programs. The Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology of Tuscia University is located in Civitavecchia's harbor; representing one of the main laboratories for marine experimental research on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it focuses its activities both on open sea and coastal processes. Although its recent constitution, it has already gained a good experience participating in national and European research projects, in many oceanographic cruises and collaborating with public institutions. Integrated marine observation activities were performed in the coastal area of Civitavecchia, an Italian city near Rome. Heart of the system was a platform moored near the harbor measuring every 20 minutes the main water parameters (temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, fluorescence). A GPS gave the buoy position that was verified to be in the allowed range; in negative case an alarm was immediately sent via SMS to the mobile phones of the buoy crew. Another system verified the functionality of the buoy simply generating calls to the buoy modem; a "no response" generated an alarm to the crew. The acquired data were transmitted twice a day to the base station (the Laboratory) via e-mail and FTP using a cellular modem. Another fixed station in the harbor measured temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH, numerical models played a fundamental role allowing us to estimate the dispersion dynamic of different kinds of particles (pollutants, suspended matter, bacteria, etc.). The accumulation and the dynamics of spreading and transport of potentially infectious microorganisms were simulated, using physical and microbiological in situ collected data to feed and validate the model results. Satellite observations gave an estimate of Chlorophyll-a and suspended matter. The system demonstrated an efficient, flexible and cost-effective way to assess environmental conditions. Some recent results are reported.