Automatic Monitoring of the Sea - Mar Grande - Taranto (Italy)

In the activities of the RITMARE flagship project (Ricerca Italiana per il Mare, Italian Research for the Sea) and also with funds of the Italian National Project PON R&C 2007-2013 (see details on the side column and below), prof. Michele Mossa’s research group of the Civil, Environmental, Building Engineering and Chemistry Department (DICATECh) of the Technical University of Bari - Italy (research unit of the Co.N.I.S.Ma.) has installed a system in the Mar Grande of Taranto (Italy) for the monitoring of sea currents, waves, water quality and weather. The system is installed on a seamark managed by the Taranto Port Authority, with which the DICATECh stipulates a special agreement.






Technical data of the seamark
No. 2 E.F.3464 - E2142.5.
Structure: elastic seamark.
H s.w.l.: 6 m.
Light visible from 7 nautical miles.
Location: Port of Taranto (Italy). The seamark is used for the ship approach to the Quay 4 – Pier 4 – East side.
Coordinats: 40°27.6'N-17°12.9' E.
Color: green.

Technical data of the automatic monitoring of the Mar Grande –Taranto (Italy)

Base system integrated on the seamark
Solar panels, rechargeable batteries.

Remote control system
LISC MASTER - Logical Intelligent System Control with firmware “Event detector”, non-volatile internal memory of 1 GB, interfacing with meteorologic sensors.
Optional sensor for the LISC MASTER: compass, pitch and roll.

Communictaion system
GSM/GPRS/UMTS.

Control system
Webcam for the sea state visualization. The Edimax Technology Co. LTD model IC-9000 camera from January 2020 has been replaced with the AVTECH AVM5547 (see the attached brochure).

Meteo Station
MetPakPro Weather Station.
Key features:
- wind speed and direction (sonic anemometer Windsonic)
- air temperatur and humidity
- barometric pressure
- net solar radiation

Water quality
CTD SeaBird SBE-37SIP-ODO with sensors of conductivity, temperature, pressure and dissolved oxigen. Expendable anti-foulant devices, unique flow path, and pumping regimen for maximum bio-fouling protection.

Combined Fluorometers, Turbidity Meters
WET Labs ECO FLNTU. WT Labs offers the Environmental Characterization Optics (ECO) series of meters that incorporate a common set of options with a single basic design to make them ideal for a wide variety of deployments. The FLNTU:
• Combines the unparalleled sensitivity of the ECO
fluorometer with an optical scattering
measurement at 700 nm for simultaneous
determination of turbidity.
• Ranges for output tailored to the environment
• Allows for assessment of fluorescence and
turbidity variability and interactions.
• Digital and analog output for easy integration into
analog CTD packages or serial data streams.
• Provides excellent precision, reliability and overall
performance at a fraction of the cost and size of
similar instruments.

C3 Submersible Fluorometer (until December 2019)
The C3 Submersible Fluorometer can be configured with one, two or three optical sensors ranging from the deep ultraviolet to the infrared spectrum. Internal memory storage capacity combined with an external submersible lithium ion battery allows the C3 to run during extended or short-term deployments.
The C3 Submersible Fluorometer has been configured with optical sensors for CDOM, Crude Oil and Refined Fuels.

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler for sea velocity and direction at 128 levels
TRDI 600 kHz (Monitor configuration). The Monitor is Teledyne RD Instruments’ most popular direct-reading Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). The unit is typically bottom frame-mounted and hard-wired to shore to provide real-time monitoring of coastal currents. The Monitor’s high data accuracy and reliability make it a favorite for deployments in highvolume traffic areas such as ports and harbors, where the data is often integrated into a Vessel Traffic Monitoring System. In fact, the Monitor has been selected for most major port programs undertaken in the United States.

Workhorse Waves Array (Firmware and software for wave measurements)
Directional Wave Measurement Option For Workhorse Adcps for highly accurate multi-directional wave measurements.

Funds
1) Italian National Project PON R&C 2007-2013 - Regioni Obiettivo Convergenza Campania, Puglia, Calabria, Sicilia (CUP: H51D11000050007).
2) RITMARE project.

For further details, please, contact prof. Michele Mossa.