Infrastructure
(short name)
POSEIDON Monitoring, Forecasting and Information System for the Greek Seas
(POSEIDON)
Installation
(short name)
Heraklion Coastal Buoy
(HCB)
Location
Heraklion Gulf, Cretan Sea, Aegean Sea, Mediterranean
Coordinates/Routes
35.391°N - 25.226°E
Bottom depth
175 m
Legal name of organisation
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR)
Country
Greece
POSEIDON is an operational marine monitoring, forecasting and information system for the Greek Seas. The observing component is a distributed infrastructure all over the Greek Seas including three coastal buoys (Saronikos buoy-SB, Heraklion Coastal Buoy-HCB and E1/M3A) and one Ferrybox (PFB). A calibration laboratory is supporting the observing activities. The Heraklion Coastal Buoy, deployed between Dia Island and Heraklion city, is equipped with meteo, T, C/S, wave sensors and current meter. The location is of particular interest as the coastal expression of the very oligotrophic Cretan Sea ecosystem, modulated by the moderate to small riverine inputs and the rural activities in the Northern Crete.Web site address: http://www.poseidon.hcmr.gr
| Instrument | Measured Parameter(s) | Elevation / Depth | Sampling | Frequency of data recovery |
| Meteo package | Wind speed/direction, Air Temperature, Atmospheric pressure | 2 m | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Oceanor wave sensor | Wave spectrum | surface | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Aanderaa CT sensor | Temperature /Conductivity | -4 m | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Nortek Current meter | Current velocity/direction | -4 m | 3 hours | 3 hours |
- Remote: the measuring system is implemented by the operator of the installation and the presence of the user group is not required,
- Partially remote: the presence of the user group is required at some stage e.g. installing and un-installing user’s equipment.
Unit of access (UA): 6 months.
Access duration corresponds to the period of installing, operating and un-installing a measuring system by the users (partially remote access) or in his/her behalf by the access provider (remote access).
TNA projects supported by JERICO-NEXT:
POSEIDON is both a geographically and scientifically distributed infrastructure in Greek seas offering end-to-end services both to science and to society. Complementary nodes both in off shore and coastal environments integrated into a unique system. From these nodes, the Coastal platforms, SB, HCB, E1-M3A and the FerryBox are open for access to users to host sensors for recording a number of parameters that do not belong to the main POSEIDON portfolio. The nodes have been designed to support the open access to different types of sensors by providing also their data in real time in most of the cases. The access is offered for one of the nodes of the network or for any combination of different nodes. Access to SB, HCB and E1-M3A will be made during the regular maintenance visits (2-4 per year) on-board the R/V Aegaeo. The duration of these visits is usually 1-2 days and can be extended upon request. Additionally, users can have unlimited access to back up buoys in Athens or Crete for preparatory work prior to deployment of their sensors.
The scientific and technical personnel of POSEIDON will carry out all operations, while training courses will be given on both hardware and software. In case of integration of new sensors into the system, the user will have to provide the software and hardware adaptations required.
