INVESTIGATING THE CAPABILITY OF ARGO FLOATS TO MONITOR SHALLOW COASTAL AREAS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

ÉTUDE DE LA CAPACITÉ DES FLOTTEURS ARGO À SURVEILLER LES ZONES CÔTIÈRES PEU PROFONDES DE LA MER MÉDITERRANÉE

Dimitris Kassis (1) , Giulio Notarstefano (2) , Inmaculada Ruiz-Parrado (3) , Vincent Taillandier (4) , Lara Díaz-Barroso (3) , Esterine Evrard (5) , Romain Cancouët (5) , Luca Arduini Plaisant (5)

1 IO - HCMR Institute of Oceanography
2 OGS - National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics
3 SOCIB Balearic Islands Coastal Ocean Observing and Forecasting System
4 LOV - Laboratoire d'océanographie de Villefranche
5 EuroArgo ERIC

The extension of Argo float coverage to the European marginal seas is one of the strategic targets of the Euro-Argo European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). Under this general framework, the Argo capability to monitor the shallow coastal shelf remains an open question. In the Euro-Argo RISE H2020 project, targeted deployments have been undertaken to investigate this potential. In this study, we present the experience and outcomes from 4 such deployments in areas of the Mediterranean Sea with intrigue coastlines and complex bathymetry (north Aegean, north Adriatic, south Palma, and Gulf of Lions). We focus on the floats’ configuration settings and the monitoring tools/software that have been utilized to follow the floats’ performance. Our results show that certain configuration parameters such as the drifting depth, and the sampling frequency, play a significant role in the floats‘ performance. Technological advances both on the floats’ characteristics and on the monitoring-controlling tools can lead to significant improvements of similar missions in the near future. The fact that all fl oats achieved successful missions and acquired data showing important hydrographic features, highlights the importance of Argo expansion in targeted shallow coastal areas where Argo can be a complementary part of an integrated oceanographic monitoring system for the Mediterranean Sea.

Mots clés: Drifting Profilers; Argo Profiles; Argo Trajectories; Coastal Monitoring; Marginal Seas

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Dimitris Kassis, Giulio Notarstefano, Inmaculada Ruiz-Parrado, Vincent Taillandier, Lara Díaz-Barroso, et al.. INVESTIGATING THE CAPABILITY OF ARGO FLOATS TO MONITOR SHALLOW COASTAL AREAS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. 9th EuroGOOS International conference, Shom; Ifremer; EuroGOOS AISBL, May 2021, Brest, France. ⟨hal-03330612v2⟩