NEMO-SNI real-time cabled seafloor observatory (southern Italy): operation assessment after two years from the deployment and next perspectives

The NEMO-SN1 multiparameter real-time cabled seafloor observatory is operating in the central Mediterranean basin, offshore Eastern Sicily island (Italy) at 2100 m w.d., since 2005 thanks to an agreement between Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). During the first two years of life of NEMO-SN1, some maintenance operations were needed to restore the cable functionalities and also to change the cable path near shore, in order to improve its safety from heavy sea. Meanwhile, a project submitted jointly by INGV and INFN was approved by the local governmental authorities of Sicily in order to enhance the observatory. The project, named PEGASO, is aimed at developing infrastructures for the management of deep seafloor scientific experiments in the NEMO-SN1 site. An overview of the activity on the observatory during its first two years of life will be given and the PEGASO project developments will be presented as well.