The Observatory of the Cannon of Nazareth (MONICAN)

The founding of the first multiparametric buoy in national waters on 24 April 2009 also marked the beginning of a pilot system in the operational oceanography in Portugal, the Observatory of the Cannon of Nazaré (MONICAN).

This observatory, operated by the IH, has as its central component a set of two multiparametric buoys, the oceanic buoy MONICAN1 founded in April 2009 at the depth of 1800 meters and the coastal buoy MONICAN 2 founded in April 2011, at the depth of 90 meters. These buoys were installed in operation in the framework of the MONICAN project and constituted pioneering systems in Portugal for the observation of oceanographic conditions off the coast.

They are equipped with sensors that measure maritime agitation, various meteorological parameters (wind, temperature and humidity of air, atmospheric pressure), current in the first 100 meters of the water column with resolution of about 2 meters, surface temperature of sea water, dissolved oxygen and concentration of chlorophyll to the surface.

In addition to these sensors common to the two buoys, in the ocean buoy, located off the Farillons, in the area between the navigation corridors and the Berlengas Nature Reserve, a hydrocarbon spill sensor and a sensor chain was installed to measure the sea water temperature at various depths, up to a maximum of 200m. The coastal buoy is located about 12 kilometres from the coast and includes a water turbidity sensor, which allows measuring the concentration of suspended particles near the surface and detecting the presence of waters with high turbidity associated with coastal river flows.

The MONICAN Observatory also integrates two coastal marine stations, installed by the IH in the ports of Nazaré and Peniche, with the support of local port authorities and the Nazaré Chamber and a coastal weather station that the IH has been maintaining in Ferrel.

For the dissemination of this information obtained for the Nazaré cannon area, the IH has created, from the beginning of this project, the page https://monican.hydrographic. pt/ from which it is possible to consult the information in real time of oceanographic and meteorological conditions, the forecast of sea and wind agitation for the practice of Surf, time series data and also provides for download, processed data obtained by the various equipments that compose this monitoring network.