MELBA MEditerranean Lagrangian Buoy Appliance

The MEditerranean Lagrangian Buoy Appliance project (MELBA) is a project oriented towards the realisation of an instrument (buoy) for the Mediterranean area, which presents restricted spatial dimensions in many cases associated with a high variability of sea depth. The dynamics of the body-of-water flux, in the Mediterranean area, is affected by the deep-sea and coastal line variability. The MELBA project is the realisation of a profiling drifter, dedicated to the Mediterranean environment. The control system takes into account long and medium term missions, but also very short, repetitive, coastal missions that are dedicated to biological, ecological or anti-pollution studies. The carrier is formed by a pressure hull containing the instrumentation, an engine for vertical motion, and an electronic control system for the mission handling and for the emergency system. The carrier is the base system for all missions. The only variation is the sensors and the relative data acquisition system for the specific mission. The communication system is a two-way satellite channel. The Global Position System (GPS) is used for the data geo-reference and to have the exact buoy position for all acquisition and transmission of data