EARSeL eProceedings Vol. 3, No. 1, 43-53, 2004

Abstract
Strategic lines of international organizations have recently converged on the need to have a reliable, distributed, and independent net dedicated to environmental monitoring. In this framework the survey of marine ecosystems, which is a problem of primary importance in ecological control due to the high probability of accidental risks, deserves particular attention. Coastal waters must be considered a major target for this kind of surveillance, with accidental oil-tanker releases, possible unauthorized industrial wastes - including dangerous organic pollutants (PCB, dioxins, PAH) - and anthropogenic discharges (DOM and detergents).
At the ENEA remote sensing laboratory the former development of ship-borne lidar fluorosensors led to the design of submarine and flying payloads. A compact underwater apparatus was realized and already tested in the XVII Italian Antarctic Expedition on the coastal area of the Ross Sea near terra Nova Bay, where the instrument was used as a payload of a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) both from a pack-located station and from a small boat. The technical layout and characteristics of the submarine lidar fluorosensor will be presented and discussed, together with preliminary results collected during immersions. In different marine contests this instrument can be dedicated to various underwater studies (oceanography, marine biology, glaciology, sedimentology) and to the identification of extraneous objects at the sea bottom (industrial wastes, archeological remains) or to the identification of oil spill releases and residuals. A second instrument, currently under development, consists of a lightweight flying payload, to be installed on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for large sea surface and territory monitoring.

ISSN 1729-3782