Sea Technology

AUG 2015

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www.sea-technology.com August 2015 / st 19 W ithin the Adriatic Sea, the northernmost basin is rather shallow, with depths below 25 meters. This basin lies between the Italian coast on the west and the Balkans on the east. It is characterized by the presence of Bora (from the northeast) and Sirocco (from the southeast) winds, which are the main ori- gin of high waves and littoral erosion, mostly in the northwest sector. The basin receives the freshwater discharges of about 10 rivers, including the Po, with yearly average fow of about 1,500 m 3 /s. The smaller rivers have a relatively large infuence on the me- soscale and submesoscale dynamics that affect the coastal circulation in terms of momentum, salinity and sediment supply during fooding periods. The Northern Adriatic Sea (NAS) is an area of great environmental and socioeconomic value—the city of Venice lies there—and is very often selected as a test-case area for international, European and regionally funded projects. This area is the site of a signifcant amount of tourism and maritime trans- port, as well as a large fshermen population and gas extraction company presence. There are several en- vironmental concerns, including eutrophication, an- oxic episodes, harmful mucilaginous algal blooms, small pelagic fsh stock depletion and pollution. In order to learn more about these environmental concerns and mitigate their effects, rapid surveys and characteriza- tions of NAS properties are required. In this respect, river outlets and surrounding sea areas are among the most in- triguing areas for scientifc investigation. CARPET From January to February 2014, the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IS- MAR, Venice) coordinated an ad-hoc international oceano- graphic campaign named CARPET (Characterizing Adriatic Region Preconditioning EvenTs) to track seawater condi- tions in the NAS region in both Italian and Slovenian waters. During the winter, the basin is generally exposed to cold and intense winds that trigger the formation of dense waters representing one of the "cold engines" governing the entire Adriatic current circulation. Dense waters tend to sink in the northern basin, carrying nutrients and oxygen that then fow southward, recalling warmer and saltier waters along the eastern section of the Adriatic Sea. In a global warm- ing context, the events of water densifcation are supposed to become less frequent, hampered by high air tempera- ture and larger freshwater supplies that are working against dense water formation. Mapping Coastal Frontal Zones In Northern Adriatic via AUV Tracking Seawater Conditions for Environmental Assessment By Dr. Alvise Benetazzo • Graham Lester • Dr. Sandro Carniel Satellite image showing turbidity in Isonzo River on February 14, 2014. The image outlines the name and position of the main river mouths. The REMUS 100 deployment locations are indicated as dot marks (the green dot shows the position of the REMUS 100 deployment across the Isonzo river turbidity plume). The inset shows the Northern Adriatic Sea and sur- rounding orography.

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