Integration of satellite and UMV (Unmanned Marine Vehicle) based observations for coastal water quality assessment and monitoring: preliminary results from the RITMARE project

Marine resources, representing one of the most significant of the Earth, deserve monitoring systems able to provide reliable and frequently updated information about their status and evolution. An integrated approach, based on the combination of in situ measurements, satellite observations and specific models, can represent the most adequate solution for such kind of systems. In this framework, the RITMARE Project, the wider Italian project on marine environment research, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education University and Research -contemplates, among its main objectives, the development and integration of advanced data analysis techniques of satellite and in-situ measurements. In this framework several in-situ measurements campaigns have been performed by Unmanned Marine Vehicles (UMV) and results achieved compared with satellite based products. In this paper, preliminarily results achieved during the campaign UMV measurement campaign carried out on 29 october 2103 in the Naples Gulf are presented and results compared with EOS/MODIS products in order to demonstrate the added value of the combined use of in-situ and remote observations for coastal water monitoring and marine environment protection.