Meteo and Hydrodynamic Measurements to Detect Physical Processes in Confined Shallow Seas.

Area of Science:

• Coastal Oceanography
• Environmental Monitoring
• Hydrodynamic Modeling

Background:

• Shallow coastal lagoons with scarce circulation are vulnerable to anthropization and urban discharges.
• Effective monitoring of hydrodynamics and water quality is crucial for environmental management and hazard prevention.
• High-performance sensors and data analysis provide essential tools for early warning and informed decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a method for analyzing long-term meteorological and hydrodynamic data from semi-enclosed seas.
• To derive fundamental insights into the hydrodynamic structure of coastal systems.
• To provide a feasible and replicable procedure for assessing coastal basin dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Continuous recording of meteorological and hydrodynamic data.
• Time-domain analysis, signal processing, and data correlation.
• Application of a case study in a semi-enclosed coastal system in Southern Italy with two interconnected basins.

Main Results:

• The analyzed coastal system is not dominated by wind.
• Annual trends in wind regime, wave spreading, and current circulation are interconnected and reiterative.
• The study provides insights into the hydrodynamic structure and predictive capabilities for the studied basin.

Conclusions:

• Long-term, continuous data analysis offers rapid insights into coastal hydrodynamic structures.
• The developed method is generic and applicable to similar coastal systems with quality data.
• Findings are valuable for predictive modeling and environmental management of vulnerable coastal lagoons.