IDSL-43 sea level station in Delimara (Malta)

The PORTO network of meteo and sea level stations is made up a total of 15 stations in Malta and Sicily. One of the sea level stations in Malta is situated within Marsaxlokk Bay on the coast of Delimara (Figure 1). Figure 2 shows the exact location at 35.8316°N and 14.5547°E.

The sea level monitoring device installed at Delimara, known as an Inexpensive Device for Sea Level Measurement (IDSL), has been designed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) in order improve the sea level network in use for the Tsunami Hazard monitoring in the Mediterranean Sea and in the North Atlantic area (NEAMTWS area of UNESCO). The instrument has the characteristic of being cheap and very effective. Its reliability, duration and quality were tested in a number of experimental campaigns, whose first results are presented here. In collaboration with the UNESCO/IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission), responsible of the definition of the Tsunami Warning System of this geographical area, a set of 20 devices has been offered by JRC for a period of 1 year of testing of the devices; the surveys for the installation of the devices was completed in 2015.

The station registers the sea level at varying time intervals. The data is then resampled to 5s intervals, and transmitted over HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to a central server at the University of Malta. Here the data is written to the PORTO meteo and marine stations database as soon as it is received. Data from the database is used to provide realtime data on the PORTO online interface (Figure 3).

The PO-Res Grp, led by Prof. Aldo Drago, is the lead partner in CALYPSO South. The Group undertakes oceanographic research, in a holistic perspective, including operational observations and forecasts, specialised data management analysis and participation in international cooperative ventures. The overarching research themes of the PO-Res.Grp cover coastal meteorology, hydrography and physical oceanography with a main emphasis on the experimental study of the hydrodynamics of the sea in the vicinity of the Maltese Islands. The Group has mainly endeavoured to promote activities in operational oceanography by the installation and maintenance of permanent sea monitoring systems, and the provision of meteo/marine forecasts. In fact, the PO-Res Grp is responsible for management and custody of the data collected by the whole PORTO network, as well as the development and maintenance of the various interfaces that make this data available to stake holders and the public in general.