Italian Wave Network (RON)
Wave buoys for sea monitoring

Where

Venezia, Ancona, Ortona, Monopoli, Crotone, Catania, Ragusa, Mazzara del Vallo, Palermo, Cetraro, Ponza, Civitavecchia, Alghero, Cagliari, Siniscola, La Spezia

When

2024

Sector

Oceanography

ISPRA (Italian National Network for the Environmental Protection) has once again chosen SIAP+MICROS for the design, supply, installation and maintenance of the new National Wave Network consisting of 16 newly designed wave buoys, which will monitor all of the Italian seas. They will be launched off the coast of Venice (Upper Adriatic), Ancona, Ortona (Middle Adriatic), Monopoli (Lower Adriatic), Crotone, Catania (Ionian Sea), Ragusa, Mazzara del Vallo, Palermo, Cetraro (Lower Tyrrhenian), Ponza, Civitavecchia, Alghero, Cagliari, Siniscola (Upper Tyrrhenian), La Spezia (Ligurian Sea).

The buoys are designed and built by SIAP+MICROS and are characterized, unlike products available on the market, by a high level of customization in order to meet the specific needs of ISPRA as a research body. Specially designed for wave monitoring, the buoys are equipped with cutting-edge instruments for the observation of marine weather parameters, current values ​​and water quality with advanced and up-to-date instrumentation. Each buoy is equipped with a camera, while data transmission is entrusted to an IRIDIUM satellite communication system capable of tracking the buoy’s route even in the event of unmooring. As a redundant communication system, a device for data transmission via the AIS system (automatic tracking system used in the naval sector) is installed on board each buoy. The data acquisition, storage and management system is completely designed and built by SIAP+MICROS to guarantee the best performance and telemetry of all devices on board the buoys. The services at sea will be carried out together with a set of expert operators who operate in the reference market and who allow the Company to prepare multiple operations in parallel and optimize project times.

This marine weather monitoring project adds to the many successful experiences gained by Siap+Micros since the 1950s, successfully carried out thanks to the active and effective collaboration with clients of the calibre of ISPRA, the Municipality of Venice, and the Tuscany Region. Also in this project, as in other collaborations with important research institutes such as the JRC of Varese, Siap+Micros intended to go beyond the state of the art, through study, research and application, defining a new quality level for the measurement of parameters in the marine environment.

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