The Istituto Sperimentale Talassografico di Trieste which is affiliated to the Italian National Research Council carries out research in physical and chemical oceanography. In addition the Institute carries on the activity of the former Marine Observatory of Trieste which was founded in 1841 as a section of the Imperial Nautical and Commercial Academy during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The chemical oceanography department's present field of study focuses on investigations into the chemical compounds and processes involved in the marine biogeochemical cycles especially regarding oxygen and other dissolved gases, nutrients and nitrogen assimilation by plankton.
The physical oceanography department's research is concerned with the elaboration of the meteorological data and tidal records for studies into air-sea interactions and climatological series; the subjects of sea-basin climatology and geophysical fluid dynamics are also addressed.




The meteorological and tidal station

Meteorological records in Trieste officially begun in 1841 : in those times, the town held great strategic importance for the Austro -Hungarian Navy and for trade and shipping companies. The tide gauge of the Sartorio pier was one of the first to be installed on the Adriatic shores and the original records are still in our Institute. Today the meteorological observations produce a daily data set on: pressure - air temperature - relative humidity - wind - atmospheric precipitations - evaporation - global radiation - sea temperature. The meteorological and tidal data are published in technical reports; mean sea level observations are communicated to the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level.



National and international programmes - oceanographic cruises

In recent years, the areas of interest of our Institute have been the Mediterranean, the Antarctic and the Arctic seas. The national programmes in which the Institute is partecipating comprise the strategic projects of the Italian National Research Council about the marine environment, the project PRISMA sponsored by the Ministry of the University and Technological Research, the Italian National Antarctic Research Programme with the coordinated researches on the Strait of Magellano. (presence on the 1987/88, 1989/90, 1991 cruises). The Institute is involved in a few international sea research initiatives: regarding the MAST programmes, we may remember the MTP- Mediterranean Targeted Project (MERMAIDS and OTRANTO); regarding the ESF (European Scientific Foundation) with the Italian National Research Council, the project SEAS (Study of the European Arctic Shelf). [updated 1995].



IST Personnel Involved in the Project

dr. Davide Bregant, scientific responsible, data processing
dr. Giuseppe Civitarese, data acquisition and processing
dr. Anna Luchetta, data acquisition and chemical analyses
dr. Stefano Ruffini, data acquisition and chemical analyses
dr. Stefano Cozzi, data acquisition and chemical analyses


Istituto Talassografico "F. Vercelli" (CNR)
address : Viale R. Gessi, 2    34123 Trieste (Italy)
phone   : +39 40 305403
fax     : +39 40 308941