The M3A multi-sensor buoy network of the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Abstract.A network of three multi-sensor timeseries stations able to deliver real time physical and biochemical observations of the upper thermocline has been developed for the needs of the Mediterranean Forecasting System during the MFSTEP project. They follow the experience of the prototype M3A system that was developed during the MFSPP project and has been tested during a pilot pre-operational period of 22 months (2000)(2001). The systems integrate sensors for physical (temperature, salinity, turbidity, current speed and direction) as well as optical and chemical observations (dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, PAR, nitrate). The south Aegean system (E1-M3A) follows a modular design using independent mooring lines and collects biochemical data in the upper 100 m and physical data in the upper 500 m of the water column. The south Adriatic buoy system (E2-M3A) uses similar instrumentation but on a single mooring line and also tests a new method of pumping water samples from relatively deep layers, performing analysis in the protected "dry" environment of the buoy interior. The Ligurian Sea system (W1-M3A) is an ideal platform for air-sea interaction processes since it hosts a large number of meteorological sensors while its ocean instrumentation, with real time transmission capabilities, is confined in the upper 50 m layer. Despite their different architecture, the three systems have common sampling strategy, quality control and data management procedures. The network operates in the Mediterranean Sea since autumn 2004 collecting timeseries data for calibration and validation of the forecasting system as well for process studies of regional dynamics.

Atmospheric deposition in the Eastern Mediterranean. A driving force for ecosystem dynamics

“…Data from various depths from the marine deployment site of the Multi-Sensor Buoy (M3A, Nittis et al, 2007) at 1050 m depth have been used to characterize the sea water in the region. M3A is located approximately 3 km north of Heraklion at 35°39′N and 24°58′E in the Cretan Sea at the east part of the Mediterranean Sea.…”

The M3A network of open ocean observatories in the Mediterranean Sea

“…After, during the MFSTEP project, the prototype M3A system was upgraded, using the experience of its pilot operation, and was re-deployed in the south Aegean Sea (E1-M3A) while two more similar systems were developed: the first one in the southern Adriatic Sea (E2-M3A) and the second one in the Ligurian Sea (W1-M3A) ( Fig. 1) [23].…”

The ODAS Italia 1 buoy: More than forty years of activity in the Ligurian Sea

“…Previous works have described mainly thematically the system structure and activity (Nittis et al, 2007;Pensieri et al, 2010Pensieri et al, , 2012Pensieri et al, , 2013 among the most recent ones). The purpose of this paper is to summarise and review its long-lasting contribution to the study of the Ligurian basin, as an example of enclosed sea.…”

“…The W1-M3A (Western 1 -Mediterranean Moored Multi-sensor Array) meteo-oceanographic observing system, managed by CNR, complements the above stations as a system at the centre of the array and more in the open sea than the RON network. It is a part of the Mediterranean Moored Multi-sensor Array (M3A) network (Nittis et al, 2007) and is composed of (Fig. 2): (i) the Oceanographic Data Acquisition System (ODAS) Italia 1 spar buoy (large dot in Fig.…”