The Black Sea Security System—A New Early Warning and Environmental Monitoring System

Abstract

A new environmental monitoring and early warning system was realized in the western Black Sea through a Romanian-Bulgarian cooperation program. The system consists in five offshore observatories and a coastal gauge; each offshore observatory includes three modules-surface, mid-water and bottom. The system, unique in the Black Sea area, is able to collect long-term data for several key environmental parameters (e.g., dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, water pressure, etc.) and to launch an early warning for tsunami-like geohazards and/or extreme storm waves.