ALBERT

Description: Physical and biological processes of the marine ecosystem have a high spatial and temporal variability, whose study is possible only through high resolution and synoptic observations. The Temperature and Fluorescence Launchable Probe was charted in order to answer to the claim of a cost effective temperature and fluorescence expendable profiler, to be used in ships of opportunity. The development of the expendable fluorometer has followed similar concepts of the XBT (a wire conducting the signal to a computer card), but differently from the latter it was developed with an electronic system which can be improved and adapted to several variables measure channels. To reach the aim of a low-cost probe, were utilized commercial components: a glass bulb temperature resistor for the temperature measurement, blue LEDs, a photodiode and available selective glass filters, for the fluorescence measurement. The measurement principle employed to detect phytoplankton's biomass is the active fluorescence. This method is an in vivo chlorophyll estimation, that can get the immediate biophysical reaction of phytoplankton inside the aquatic environment; it is a non-disruptive method which gives real time estimation and avoids the implicit errors due to the manipulation of samples. The possibility of using a continuous profiling probe, with an active fluorescence measurement, is very important in real time phytoplankton's study; it is the best way to follow the variability of sea productivity. In fact, because of the high time and space variability of phytoplankton, due to its capability to answer in a relatively short time to ecological variations in its environment and because of its characteristic patchiness, there isn't a precise quantitative estimation of the biomass present in the Mediterranean Sea.

Description: Physical and biological processes of the marine ecosystem have a high spatial and temporal variability, whose study is possible only through high resolution and synoptic observations. The T-FLAP (Temperature and Fluorescence LAunchable Probe) was charted in order to answer to the claim of a cost effective temperature and fluorescence expendable profiler, to be used in ships of opportunity. The development of the expendable fluorimeter has followed similar concepts of the XBT (a wire conducting the signal to a computer card), but differently from that, T-FLAP was developed with an electronic system that can be improved and adapted to several variables measure channels. Commercial components were utilized to reach the aim of a low-cost probe: a glass bulb temperature resistor for the temperature measurement, blue LEDs, a photodiode and available selective glass filters, for fluorescence measurement. The measurement principle employed to detect phytoplankton's biomass is the active fluorescence. This method is an in vivo chlorophyll measure, that can get the immediate biophysical reaction of the cell inside the aquatic ecosystem; it is a non-disruptive method which gives a real time measure and avoids the implicit errors due to the manipulation of samples. The possibility of using continuous profiling probe, with an active fluorescence measurement, is very important in the study of phytoplankton in real time; it is the best way to follow the variability of sea productivity. In fact, because of the high time and space variability of phytoplankton, due to its capability to answer in a relatively short time to ecological variations in its environment and because of its characteristic patchiness, there isn't a precise quantitative estimation of the biomass present in the Mediterranean sea.

Description: The understanding of the coastal environment is fundamental for efficiently and effectively facing the pollution phenomena, as expected by Marine Strategy Directive, which is focused on the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) by all Member States by 2020. To address this, the Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology developed a multi-platform observing network that has been in operation since 2005 in the coastal marine area of Civitavecchia, where multiple uses and high ecological values closely coexist. The Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System (C-CEMS), implemented in the current configuration, includes various modules that provide integrated information to be used in different fields of the environmental research. The long term observations acquired by the fixed stations are integrated by in situ surveys, periodically carried out for the monitoring of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the water column and marine sediments, as well as of the benthic biota. The in situ data, integrated with satellite observations (e.g., temperature, chlorophyll a and TSM), are used to feed and validate the numerical models, which allow analyses and forecasting of the dynamics of conservative and non-conservative particles under different conditions. As examples of C-CEMS applications, two case studies are reported in this work: (1) the analysis of faecal bacteria dispersion for bathing water quality assessment and, (2) the evaluation of the effects of the dredged activities on Posidonia meadows, which make up most of the two sites of community importance located along the Civitavecchia coastal zone. The simulations results are combined with Posidonia oceanica distribution and bathing areas presence in order to resolve the conflicts between coastal uses (in terms of stress produced by anthropic activities) and sensitivity areas management.

Description: The understanding of the coastal environment is fundamental for efficiently and effectively facing the pollution phenomena as expected by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and for limiting the conflicts between anthropic activities and sensitivity areas, as stated by Maritime Spatial Planning Directive. To address this, the Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology developed a multi-platform observing network that has been in operation since 2005 in the coastal marine area of Civitavecchia (Latium, Italy) where multiple uses and high ecological values closely coexist. The Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System (C-CEMS), implemented in the current configuration, includes various components allowing one to analyze the coastal conflicts by an ecosystem-based approach. The long-term observations acquired by the fixed stations are integrated with in situ data collected for the analysis of the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the water column, sea bottom and pollution sources detected along the coast. The in situ data, integrated with satellite observations (e.g., temperature, chlorophyll a and TSM), are used to feed and validate the numerical models, which allow the analysis and forecasting of the dynamics of pollutant dispersion under different conditions. To test the potential capabilities of C-CEMS, two case studies are reported here: (1) the analysis of fecal bacteria dispersion for bathing water quality assessment, and (2) the evaluation of the effects of the dredged activities on Posidonia meadows, which make up most of the two sites of community importance located along the Civitavecchia coastal zone. The simulation outputs are overlapped by the thematic maps showing bathing areas and Posidonia oceanica distribution, thus giving a first practical tool that could improve the resolution of the conflicts between coastal uses (in terms of stress produced by anthropic activities) and sensitivity areas.