Beakon S1-GB

The S1-GB beakon constitutes one of two measurement stations operated by ISMAR along the coast of Romagna, off the Po Delta.

Installed in a body of water with a depth of about 21 m, the S1 meteo-oceanographic buoy was first positioned by ISMAR during 2003, at the S1 study site, about 4 nautical miles south of the mouth of Po di Goro (Po River Delta-Northern Adriatic), on a 22.5 m seabed. After a two-month test period in 2003, buoy S1 was permanently positioned in March 2004.

During 2015, the S1 station was further upgraded: the semi-mobile floating buoy and instrumented chain system was replaced with a fixed elastic meda station. The station was renamed from S1 buoy to S1-GB beakon.

The S1-GB beakon consists of a weather station and a submerged mooring line that houses oceanographic instrumentation at two depths (-2.5 m and -18.5 m).
The beakon is located at a key monitoring point for the study of interactions between the Upper Adriatic and the Po River, experiencing a wide range of oceanographic conditions and is considered representative of continental shelf conditions in the northern Adriatic, in an area influenced by solid and liquid inputs from the Po River. It acquires, continuously, oceanographic, meteorological, and biogeochemical parameters also for the purpose of physical and biological modeling of the northern Adriatic.

The system is equipped with NRT logging and transmission devices, 12 and 24 VDC DC power systems, meteorological station, and dual winch (connected to the submerged mooring) housing oceanographic instrumentation at two depth levels (including CTD probes, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, turbidity, and CDOM sensors, ADCP). Additional measurements are routinely collected at the site with periodic sampling regarding biology, chemistry, and oceanography.

The beakon contributes to the European research infrastructure eLTER-RI, as part of the Upper Adriatic macrosite, DANUBIUS-RI and JERICO-RI.