Development of of an integrated management of coastal hypoxia in the Emilia Romagna region waters (north Adriatic Sea)

The development of the integrated monitoring network is presented together with carrying out of preliminary experimental investigations. The structure of the monitoring network, designed within the EMMA research project, has been based on four main components: the monitoring of the coastal zone, by means of an automated remote station (buoy) and by traditional sampling in fixed stations, which has to provide a set of high resolution environmental data; the 3-D numerical model (ROMS), which has been implemented for hydrological simulations and forecasting of hypoxia scenarios in the area of interest; the Local Information Centre (LIC) has been set up for the collection and for the exchange of all data and modelling results among the various components of the network; the Decision Support System which brings, for the first time in the region, the scientific aspects of the hypoxia phenomenon to the operational requirements of local institutions and socio-economic operators. The structure of the monitoring network, designed within the EMMA research project (Environmental Management through Monitoring and Modelling of Anoxia; LIFE04ENV/IT/0479) (2004-2007), is described in the contribute