The new link enhances the Western Ionian Sea (WIS) Observatory, a scientific infrastructure dedicated to the collection of real-time data from the deep sea.
The installation operations of a new submarine electro-optical cable off the coast of Catania, built by theIstituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) thanks to funding from the PNRR ITINERIS project, dedicated to the strengthening and integration of Italian research infrastructures into European networks of excellence. The intervention represents an important advancement in the observation and monitoring capabilities of the deep sea in the Mediterranean..
The new cable, approximately 35 km long, connects the shore station located in the port of Catania to the Western Ionian Sea (WIS) site, located approximately 2000 metres deep in the western Ionian Sea.
The WIS site, consisting of several interconnected observation systems, constitutes a European-level research infrastructure capable of real-time, multi-parameter monitoring of the deep-sea environment. The infrastructure is jointly managed by INGV and INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) and is part of the European consortium EMSO ERIC (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory European Research Infrastructure Consortium).
Equipped with 24 optical fibres, the new system - produced for INGV by a partnership consisting of Elettra Tlc and MacArtney Italy - allows for the real-time transmission of large amounts of data from observatories installed on the seabed, while also ensuring their power supply. The cable's submarine termination has been designed to accommodate new observation systems, while a dedicated data management and distribution system will allow real-time access to the entire infrastructure.
Enhanced connectivity will expand the observed area and foster the development of innovative and interdisciplinary experiments, offering hosting services for various scientific communities—from geophysics to oceanography to marine biology—and ensuring both in-situ and remote accessibility, significantly improving continuous monitoring of the deep-sea environment.
"Thanks to this intervention, the operational life of the infrastructure, developed since the early 2000s, will be extended by at least another 20 years, guaranteeing continuity and stability to research activities in the long term." he claims David Embriaco, responsible for the INGV WIS activity of the PNRR ITINERIS project.
"This infrastructure significantly strengthens deep-sea observation capabilities and opens up new opportunities for increasingly integrated interdisciplinary studies, which will contribute to the understanding of the processes that regulate environments that are still largely unexplored." declares the Director of the Environment Department of the INGV, Maria Fabrizia Good morning.
"Investing in these infrastructures means strengthening the country's ability to understand and monitor natural processes, helping to support integrated international research aimed at understanding and protecting the marine environment.,” concludes the President of the INGV, Fabio Florindo. "The PNRR ITINERIS project represents a concrete example of integration between technological innovation and excellent scientific research".
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Photos - Termination of the submarine cable during installation operations