Panarea: OGS inaugurates a new meteorological observatory

The data of the new meteorological observatory installed by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS on the Island of Panarea - Aeolian Islands are now online. The detection system will provide, in real time with updates every 15 minutes, meteorological data (temperature, wind and precipitation), information on air quality (PM10 and PM2.5 particles) and the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide to support studies related to climate change and ocean acidification. The new observatory will also provide a three-day forecast of weather conditions in the Aeolian island area. 

The observatory was purchased as part of the IPANEMA technological innovation project, thanks to a PON Research and Innovation grant, which provides for the implementation of the ECCSEL NatLab-Italy laboratory in Panarea with the acquisition of cutting-edge instrumentation to identify the most suitable methodologies for monitoring, protecting and managing the marine ecosystem in offshore CO₂ storage sites.

In Panarea, OGS inaugurated the ECCSEL-NatLab Italy laboratory (funded by the MUR) in 2015. The island was chosen because of the presence of natural CO₂ emissions, even at shallow depths, making it an extraordinary natural laboratory for studying the effects of climate change, developing monitoring techniques and expanding knowledge of the impact of acidification on the marine ecosystem.

The laboratory is part of the pan-European ECCSEL ERIC (European Carbon Capture and Storage Laboratory infrastructure), which links the best European laboratories involved in research on CCUS (CO₂ Capture, Transport, Utilisation and Storage) with the aim of providing a useful tool for reducing CO₂ emissions from the industrial sector and contributing to the fight against climate change and to achieve the objectives set out by the Paris Agreement.