September 2012
CALYPSO Project SeaSonde Network:
Improving Oil Spill Response Using HF Radar
in the
Malta-Sicily Channel
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SeaSonde surface currents maps
for the Malta System shown in PORTUS.
Courtesy of CALYPSO partners.
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Some of the CALYPSO Partners
during SeaSonde training
in Malta.
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Three SeaSondes will soon be providing realtime
surface current maps in the strip of sea
dividing Malta and Sicily, for the
CALYPSO Project, coordinated by Prof. Aldo
Drago from the University of Malta. Two units
have already been installed and commissioned on
northern Malta (Ta’Barkat and Ta’Sopu), with the
final unit scheduled for installation in late October
2012 in southern Sicily (Port of Pozzallo). The
CALYPSO radar network also includes latest
technology to extend the coverage performance with
use of Multi-Static Data Processing Software at one
of the sites in Malta. This is intended to extend the
area of coverage closer to the Maltese coastline as
well as to add redundancy in the conventional
backscatter region, thereby increasing current
measurement robustness. The network is managed
using a state-of-the-art data management platform,
which consists of the CODAR Central
Management / Data Combining Station and the PORTUS by QUALITAS Marine
Information System, providing data retrieval and combining from the radar stations,
access to all SeaSonde data outputs (offline or through a web based viewer), powerful
data sharing tools like OPEnDAP, ftp or WMS as well as advanced tools for system
administration, monitoring and reporting.
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CALYPSO primary aim is to support efficient response against marine oil spills in
the Malta-Sicily Channel, that is one of the busiest areas of maritime transportation in the Mediterranean, accounting for roughly
twenty percent of the world’s oil tanker traffic. An oil spill accident may cause a devastating damage to a small island state like
Malta where economic assets and areas of touristic attraction are concentrated in space. Malta’s water desalinization plants are
among the most vulnerable to oil spill objects since they provide the country’s major source of fresh water.
The routine acquisition of such spatially widespread, long-term data sets is expected to trigger an unprecedented leap in the
economic value of ocean data and information, and will additionally target multiple applications and information users.This project
puts Malta and Sicily at the forefront of such initiatives in the Mediterranean and will serve as a stepping stone to expand the
system in the future for coverage of the full marine space around the Maltese Islands and the Sicilian perimeter.
CALYPSO brings together three other partners from Malta -Transport Malta, Civil Protection Department and Armed Forces of
Malta – and four partners from Sicily – ARPA Sicilia, IAMC-CNR Capo Granitola, Università degli Studi di Palermo (UNIPA) and
Università di Catania (CUTGANA). Spanish engineering company Qualitas Remos has been awarded the contract for radar supply,
installation, commission and calibration.
More information about this project at - http://oceania.research.um.edu.mt/cms/calypsoweb |
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