Wind Monitoring Genova

A wide seaport monitoring network has been realized in the framework of the European Projects “Wind and Ports” and “Wind, Ports, and Sea” (www.ventoeporti.net).

Funded by the European Cross-border Program “Italy – France Maritime 2007-2013” (www.maritimeit-fr.net), which involved the Department of Civil, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering (DICCA) of the University of Genoa as the scientific actuator, and the Port Authorities of the main commercial ports in the Liguria and Tyrrhenian Sea, namely Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Savona (Italy), Bastia and L’Ile Rousse (France).

Each port area is now equipped by high-technology instruments to measure wind and other environmental parameters.

The whole network consists of more than 30 ultrasonic anemometers, 3 LiDAR vertical wind profilers, 6 PTH sensors. Bi- and tri-axial ultrasonic anemometers have a sampling frequency of 10 Hz in order to measure highly transient events such as thunderstorms as well as mean wind fields and turbulence.

LiDARs measure vertical wind profiles up to 250 m above the ground with a sampling frequency of 1 Hz and are expected to greatly help detecting and understanding the vertical structure and evolution of thunderstorm outflows.

The naturally developed boundary layer can be increased and modeled by means of artificial roughness blocks and spires up to 45 configurations corresponding to different atmospheric boundary layers.

The entire working section can also be adjusted depending on customers’ demands and needs. The Wind Tunnel has been realized with the main sponsorships of Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Carige, Trametal, Elah Dufour and MIUR.

The sponsorships of Vittorio Malacalza, Camera di Commercio di Genova, Regione Liguria and Industriali Liguria are greatly acknowledged.