IT12-M Alto Adriatico

The Northern Adriatic Sea is the northernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea and one of its most productive areas, characterized by a shallow depth and by a dominant cyclonic circulation. The oceanographic and meteorological parameters show a marked seasonal and interannual variability. The major forcings of the system are represented by the significant river inputs along the Italian coast, by the Eastern Adriatic Current-EAC, which brings high salinity and oligotrophic waters from the southern basin, and by the notable sea-level range, relatively to the Mediterranean area. The NAS is subject to multiple anthropogenic impacts, e.g.: nutrient inputs, coastal urbanization, fishing activity, tourism, and maritime trade. The basin has undergone marked eutrophication followed by a phase of oligotrophication and then by a recent increase in nutrient concentrations. The NAS has also been subjected to frequent development of mucilage aggregates until the first decade of the 2000s. The LTER-Italy parent site NAS currently includes four research sites: the Gulf of Trieste, the Gulf of Venice, the Po Delta and Romagna Coast, and the Senigallia-Susak Transect. At each site meteo-oceanographic and biological data, mainly on plankton, are gathered both during oceanographic cruises and at fixed point observatories. Each site is supervised by a research institution that also manages the system of fixed sensors, which record data in near real-time