The second MARSiCo-2025 campaign starts today, heading towards the Corsica and Sicily Channels and the western Ionian Sea
The second MARSiCO-2025 campaign kicks off today (Management and Retrieval of Submerged Infrastructures in the Sicily and Corsica Channel), organized by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR) e carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) as part of the activities of EMSO ERIC, a pan-European research infrastructure to promote the exploration of the oceans and seas surrounding Europe.
The initiative aims to ensure continuous monitoring of essential oceanographic parameters, through observatory maintenance and the acquisition of new data, to understand the state of the Mediterranean in key locations including the Western Ionian Sea, home to the INGV node of the EMSO - Western Ionian Sea Research Infrastructure. A group of researchers and technicians will set sail on the CNR ship Gaia Blu from Bari to head towards the western Ionian Sea and the Straits of Sicily and Corsica, in order to maintain the mooring strategic (devices anchored to the seabed aimed at studying currents or the physical properties of water) and ensuring their long-term operability.
Furthermore, the instrumentation acquired from the PNRR ITINERIS project will be tested and validated (Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System), which together with EuroGO-SHIP supported the campaign. A CNR-INM (Institute of Marine Engineering) research group will participate in the campaign focusing on on GAIA-TWIN project, aimed at developing a digital twin of the Gaia Blu ship. Thanks to advanced techniques of dynamic mode decomposition e machine learning algorithm , the study aims to create predictive models that can support navigation safety, structural monitoring and ship life cycle management.
The campaign, which will end on November 10th with the arrival at the port of La Spezia, represents an important step in the advancement of oceanographic knowledge, with the aim of promoting national and international collaboration, as well as the adoption of innovative technologies for maritime research.
Useful links:
National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology
CNR Institute of Marine Sciences
