Automatic meteo-ocean station (AMOS): real-time data acquisition, validation, archiving and numerical modeling

Abstract

      In the framework of the Croatian national oceanographic monitoring program an automatic meteo-ocean measuring system has been under development. It is expected to be an important improvement for monitoring and analyses of various physical processes in the Adriatic Sea. As a first phase in the development of the system, an automatic station (AMOS) was placed at Marjan Cape, Split. It enables acquisition, validation and archiving of data for eleven meteorological and oceanographic parameters in real time, as well as calculation of some derived parameters and their dissemination in graphic format over the Internet (http://jadran.izor.hr/eng/online). Most of the measured data have been compared with data obtained from the permanent meteorological station located at the top of Marjan hill, which is three kilometres away. Also, data from the AMOS station have been used by two high-resolution numerical models with the aim of achieving time-dependent spatial fields of oceanographic parameters in Kaštela Bay. The AMOS station was a part of the Integrated coastal zone management system in the Adriatic Sea (ADRICOSM) project, where its data were very useful for various analyses in the Pelješac-Vis-Drvenik area. Data analyses and numerical models results will be used for further improvements in the automatic monitoring system.