Σύστημα ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ: Πάνω από δύο δεκαετίες συνεχούς εξέλιξης

The building of POSEIDON system was funded by EEA (85%) and the Greek Ministry of Economy (15%): Fifteen Seawatch buoys with satellite links, ten small wave buoys with VHF transmission, a super computer for the numerical modeling together with several workstations for data processing were acquired, twelve marine scientists and engineers were hired, the necessary telecommunication infrastructure was installed. The first pilot buoy deployment was made in October 1998 close to Glyfada coast, while by the next summer eight buoys had been deployed in the Aegean Sea. At the end of 1999, the near real time buoy data and the marine forecasts were available through a dedicated web page and POSEIDON became the first operational oceanography system that was fully implemented in the Mediterranean Sea.

A major upgrade of the POSEIDON system’s observing and forecasting capacity was funded by EEA (85%) and the Greek Ministry of Economy (15%), after five years of operation: Seven Wavescan buoys were added to the existing buoy fleet, providing advanced capabilities such as the deployments in deep basins and the hosting of inductive cables for data transfer in near real time from any depth. Three multiparametric stations for continuous recording of the water column down to 1000 meters were deployed in Athos basin, Cretan Sea and SE Ionian, enhancing the physical and biochemical monitoring capabilities of the network. The acquisition of a powerful High Performance Computer (HPC) system provided the adequate computing power for the implementation of the next generation high resolution numerical models.

A WERA high-frequency (HF) radar system – named “Dardanos” - was jointly installed in 2009 by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and the University of the Aegean at the eastern coast of Lemnos island in the framework of an Interreg IIIB 2000-2006 program. The system provides continuous surface current observations of the Black Sea Waters (BSW) inflow to the Aegean Sea through the Dardanelles straits, which significantly affects the Northern Aegean physical and biochemical characteristics.

The further extension of the POSEIDON observing capabilities in deep basins involved the development of an advanced autonomous seabed platform carrying multidisciplinary sensors that could transfer data from the sea bottom to the surface buoy through wireless communication. The platform’s building cost was covered by EEA Grants (50%) and national funds (50%).

The complete renewal and upgrade of the Ferrybox system which was installed in a pilot phase in 2004, was funded by the EU FP7 project Jerico. The system operates daily on the route between Heraklion and Piraeus, recording several physical and biochemical parameters from the sea surface while the data is transmitted in near real-time to the POSEIDON operational center.

Greek Argo was funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and aimed to enhance the national contribution in the Euro-Argo European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The systematic deployment of Argo profilers in the Aegean and Ionian Sea has enhanced the monitoring of the Eastern Mediterranean since more than 2500 profiles have been so far acquired in sub-basins of the Aegean, Ionian, Libyan, and Levantine Seas that were previously under-sampled.

EMSO HELLAS was funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and aimed to strengthen the Greek national contribution in the EMSO European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) through the development of a cabled observatory that could be deployed in the SE Ionian, close to the existing POSEIDON’s multiparametric Pylos station.

As a follow up of the national funding for the implementation of the Greek Argo initiative, HCMR has contributed to the establishment of the Euro-Argo Research Infrastructure (Commission Implementing Decision 2014/261/EU of May 5, 2014), and since then, it participates to the Euro-Argo ERIC representing Greece as a full member.

After the successful participation in MyOcean I, II & FO projects (2009-2015), HCMR is currently member of the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS) consortium since the official launch of the service in May 2015, supporting the provision and the evolution of the products in the Mediterranean Sea. POSEIDON system operates the Mediterranean node of the CMEMS Insitu Thematic Assembly Center and the Production Center of the wave forecasts for the Mediterranean Sea.

The introduction of the glider component has expanded the POSEIDON system’s observing capabilities, as these underwater autonomous vehicles can collect high resolution temporal and spatial multiparametric data throughout the water column, for extended periods of time in predefined areas. The acquisition of the two SeaExplorer gliders at the end of 2015 was funded by KRIPIS-IO project of the General Secretariat of Research and Technology.

The POSEIDON’s moored buoys were extensively renewed and upgraded through the funding by EEA of an integrated marine monitoring program, aimed to facilitate the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), concerning the continuous monitoring and the evaluation of the environmental status in the marine areas under the jurisdiction of the Hellenic Republic. The acquisition of next generation physical and biochemical sensors, new processing units and telecommunication devices along with the relevant supporting hardware (hulls, solar panels, etc.) enhanced the durability and the performance of the mooring network.

Following the national funding for the implementation of the EMSO HELLAS initiative, HCMR has contributed to the establishment of the EMSO Research Infrastructure (Commission Implementing Decision 2016/1757/EU of September 29, 2016, and since then, it participates to the EMSO ERIC representing Greece as a full member.

HCMR is leading the implementation of the national scale Research Infrastructure, named HIMIOFoTS (Hellenic Integrated Marine Inland water Observing, Forecasting and offshore Technology System), funded by the General Secretariat of Research and Technology, which includes integrated approaches in Marine observation and forecasting systems, coastal monitoring and an innovative Hydro-Environmental Monitoring and information network.

The ocean cabled observatory is the latest addition to the POSEIDON observing facilities and it was deployed at the bottom of SE Ionian Sea (1560 m depth) off the Pylos coast in 2018. The seabed platform is connected to the Methoni land station with a 13Km length fiber-optic cable and carries sensors that can provide data for conductivity (salinity), sea temperature, sea level with tsunami detection capabilities, chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, dissolved CO2, turbidity, pH, currents of the water column in a distance 300 m from the bottom, ambient noise recording with emphasis on the marine mammals acoustic/bioacoustics, seismic activity, magnetic and gravitational field.