The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) has recently announced the awarding of a contract to Fugro for the delivery of an offshore wave and current measurement network that will benefit Italy’s marine and coastal ecosystems.

This two-year project will be carried out in collaboration with Italian partners Poliservizi Srl and Prisma. The initiative, known as the rete ondametrica e correntometrica d’altura (ROCA) network, will also include the installation of two seabed tsunami early-warning stations in the Sardinian Channel and the South Ionian Sea.

The contract falls under ISPRA’s Marine Ecosystem Restoration (MER) Project, which is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The goal of the MER Project is to restore marine habitats, strengthen the national system for observing marine and coastal ecosystems, and conduct comprehensive mapping of coastal and marine habitats in Italian waters.

While Fugro’s Italian partners will oversee most of the marine operations and service work, Fugro will be responsible for designing the mooring systems for the buoys, as well as installing and operating the ROCA network.

The project includes the provision and installation of 11 SEAWATCH Wavescan buoys that will monitor network in water depths ranging from 210 m to 3000 m across Italian waters, including the Adriatic, South Ionian, Tyrrhenian, and Ligurian Seas.

Once deployed, Fugro’s SEAWATCH Wavescan buoys will continuously measure and transmit real-time data on metocean parameters such as wave height and direction, current velocity profiles, air temperature and pressure, and wind speed and direction.

These buoys are equipped with a redundant two-way satellite communication system, enabling seamless communication with the new data-receiving center that Fugro will establish for ISPRA.

Giordano Giorgi, ISPRA’s National Coordinator of the MER Project and Director of ISPRA’s National Centre for Coast, emphasized the importance of the ROCA network in acquiring detailed and reliable data on climate change impacts. He highlighted the network’s role in providing crucial information on currents in the Mediterranean Sea, which is often overlooked in global climate change modeling systems.

With its optimal spatial coverage of Italian waters and the Mediterranean Sea, the ROCA network is set to play a key role in enhancing our understanding of climate change and its implications for the region.