Straits and Channels as key regions of an integrated marine observatory of the Mediterranean: our experience on their long-term monitoring

The monitoring of Mediterranean straits and channels demonstrated its ability to detect the propagation of important anomalies at basin scale, for what concerns the transport of mass heat and salt. The new available technologies are able to significantly improve the present monitoring both in term of space/time resolution and extending the coverage to biogeochemical parameters. The important task of data transmission needs to be evaluated to permit a real time monitoring and the consequent possibility to make the acquired data available for forecasting purposes.