Tides and waves in the Central Mediterranean Sea

ABSTRACTMeteo-marine data are necessary and useful for all tasks and scientific activities of national interest involving the protection, enhancement and improvement of the marine environment. The Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) maintains and manages two monitoring networks in order to gather all physical parameters needed in defining the state of Central Mediterranean Sea: the Sea Level Measurement Network (Rete Mareografica Nazionale, RMN) and the Sea Waves Measurement Network (Rete Ondametrica Nazionale, RON). The RMN includes 36 coastal measurement stations; real-time series of sea-level and meteorological parameters are collected every minute. Tide gauges mainly collect sea level, air and water temperatures, wind speed and direction and relative humidity. The RON consists of 15 real-time directional buoys uniformly distributed along the Italian coastline. They collect the main physical parameters such as significant and maximum wave height, peak and mean wave period, wave ...