The study of climate change, the protection of the marine ecosystem and the mitigation of natural hazards are the main objectives of the new deep sea-deep observatory Levante Canyon Mooring, recently launched by EurOcean Member CNR in the Eastern Ligurian Sea, off Cinque Terre. 

The new deep-sea observatory is a collaboration between the CNR and the following institutions:

• Ligurian District of Marine Technologies (DLTM)
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA)
• National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)
• Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute (IIM)

The marine research infrastructure fills an existing gap in the Mediterranean ocean observation system with an advanced multi-disciplinary observatory. The Levante Canyon Mooring facility is equipped with a set of instruments that will allow to study various oceanographic parameters, such as salinity, temperature and currents, down to 600 metres.

The state-of-the-art observatory is part of a multidisciplinary monitoring network operated by CNR and represents the latest step in the construction of a vast system of acquisition and processing of marine data.

For further details please contact Simone Marini (CNR - Ismar Lerici Secondary Headquarters (La Spezia; simone.marini@sp.ismar.cnr.it or labmare@dltm.it).