The CMCC is currently at sea with its Glider, to study how climate change and anthropogenic impacts influence the coastal area in front of the Tiber River, Italy. By using these tools, it will be possible to monitor variations in the marine environment and assess the impacts of extreme events, such as marine heatwaves, currently occurring in the Mediterranean.

The Glider is an autonomous vehicle that navigates along a water column on programmed routes to study fundamental variables like temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and chlorophyll. It can cover large areas even in adverse sea conditions, with a months-long autonomy.

Thanks to collaboration with the Port Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, within the ‘Fiumicino’ Project, CMCC, with the support of LOSEM at the University of Tuscia, is conducting a series of oceanographic campaigns to characterize the area and validate the operational model developed by CMCC. This model provides forecasts of currents, waves, sea level, temperature, and salinity. Moreover, the glider’s data will be crucial for assimilation into CMCC’s marine forecasting system developed within the Copernicus Marine Service.