U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2005–3062

June 2005

EuroSTRATAFORM—Po and Apennine Sediment Transport 

and Accumulation Experiment (PASTA)

Printed on recycled paper

Introduction

The EuroSTRATAFORM Po and 

Apennine Sediment Transport and 

Accumulation (PASTA) was a large 

international experiment conducted in 

the Adriatic Sea to study processes that 

transport sediment and form geological 

strata. These processes also transport 

nutrients and pollutants, cause shoaling 

in harbors and coastal waterways, cause 

coastal erosion, and affect engineering, 

archeological, and naval activities on 

and near the seabed. The Adriatic Sea 

was selected as the study area because it 

has a well-defined and unusually shaped 

deposit of modern sediments.

Adriatic Sea Data Collection,

2002–03

The PASTA experiment was carried 

out during the winter of 2002–03. 

A combination of research projects 

conducted by European and North 

American scientists produced a set of 

data ideal for running and evaluating 

numerical models of waves, ocean 

circulation, and sediment transport. 

Italian, Spanish, and North American 

EuroSTRATAFORM PASTA 

researchers from 15 institutions (see 

list below) deployed instrumented 

tripods and moorings, made watercolumn measurements, and collected 

bottom sediment cores to determine 

characteristics of near-surface sediments 

and accumulation rates over time 

scales ranging from weeks to centuries. 

Collaborating researchers from more 

than 20 other institutionsin Italy, Croatia, 

Slovenia, and the United States made 

long-term current measurements, released 

and tracked more than 100 surface 

drifters, conducted repeated shipboard 

water-property surveys, mapped surface 

currents with radar, conducted airborne 

salinity measurements, and analyzed 

satellite images. The combined data 

set provides an unusually extensive 

description of coastal ocean circulation 

and sediment dynamics. PASTA 

researchers were supported by the 

U.S. Office of Naval Research and the 

European Union.

USGS Sediment-Transport

Measurements

The U.S. Geological Survey deployed 

two tripods at 10-m depth and a third 

at 20-m depth off the Italian coast, near 

the town of Civitanova Marche and 

the mouth of the Chienti River. The 

data include measurements related to 

coastal oceanographic properties and 

sediment-transport dynamics and are 

being used to test and improve numerical 

models of circulation and transport 

of sediment and pollutants. Acoustic 

Doppler current meters provide profiles 

of current velocities throughout the 

water column, and optical and acoustic 

estimates of suspended sediments 

were made near the bed. A prototype 

camera, nicknamed the “poking eyeball” 

and designed to obtain time-series 

photographs of bottom sediment texture, 

was deployed with a rotating sonar that 

recorded changes in size and orientation 

of ripples at the sandy 10-m site. The 

data from these instruments provided 

direct measurements of the waves and 

currents that initiate sediment transport, 

quantitative estimates of sediment 

concentrations and transport rates, and 

information about resulting changes 

in seabed conditions. In addition to 

providing new insights into sediment 

transport processes at these locations, 

the data can be used to critically evaluate 

numerical models of sediment transport.

Testing Models in the 

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic is an excellent location 

to test oceanographic models because 

it is a largely enclosed sea, influenced 

mostly by local weather and river input. 

Three numerical models were used 

to simulate (1) wind and weather, (2) 

waves, (3) ocean circulation, and (4) 

erosion, transport, and deposition of 

sediment. Winds and heat content in 

the air were computed using the Local 

Area Meteorological Model Italia 

(LAMI). The LAMI results, provided 

by the Italian Ufficio Generale per la 

Figure 1. Satellite image of the Adriatic Sea 

showing locations of EuroSTRATAFORM 

tripods (red triangles) and sampling stations 

(gray dots), as well as current-meter moorings 

(yellow, green, and orange circles) of collaborating research programs.

Figure 2. Photograph of USGS tripod designed 

to measure currents and sediment transport 

being deployed at the 10-m Chienti River site.
Meteorologia, provided winds and 

atmospheric parameters that were 

used to drive the wave model SWAN 

(Simulation of WAves in the Nearshore) 

and the Regional Ocean Modeling System 

(ROMS). Waves are particularly important 

for suspended sediment from shallow 

regions, and favorable comparison of 

wave-model results with measurements 

made by EuroSTRATAFORM instrument 

and Italian buoys suggests that the 

meteorological and wave models work 

well (Figure 3.)

Currents in the Adriatic are generated 

by winds, tidal forces, river runoff, and 

heating or cooling. The Po River and cold 

Bora winds that blow from the northeast 

in winter generate a strong and persistent 

current that flows southward along the 

coast (Figure 4.) Sediment delivered by 

the Po River and smaller rivers draining 

the Apennine Mountains moves south in 

this current, as does material resuspended 

by waves in shallow water. Over the 

last 5,000 years or so, this material has 

accumulated in a long, narrow deposit 

just off the shelf. A goal of the project is 

to identify and simulate the processes that 

have produced this deposit.

The USGS is using the sedimenttransport capabilities recently added 

to ROMS for these simulations. The 

model output is being evaluated 

against field measurements of 

processes (waves, currents, suspendedsediment concentrations) and geologic 

interpretations of the product (the 

location and composition of the 

deposit). Model-to-data comparisons 

will lead to improved understanding of 

coastal sediment-transport processes, 

improvements in model algorithms 

and, ultimately, the ability to make 

accurate, quantitative predictions of the 

transport and fate of sediments in coastal 

environments.

Participating Institutions

The following institutions participated 

in EuroSTRATAFORM or collaborated 

with EuroSTRATAFORM investigators 

to study the Adriatic in 2002–03.

EuroSTRATAFORM

Bedford Institute of Oceanography 

(Canada), Boston College (USA), CNRISMAR Venice (Italy), CNR-ISMAR 

Ancona (Italy), CNR-ISMAR Bologna 

(Italy), Dalhousie University (Canada), 

Institut de Ciències del Mar (CMIMACSIC) Barcelona (Spain), Oregon State 

University (USA), University of California Santa Cruz (USA), University of 

Laval (Canada), University of Virginia 

(USA), University of Washington (USA), 

URS Corporation, Tallahassee (USA), 

Virginia Institute of Marine Science 

(USA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (USA).

Collaborators

Dipartimento per i Servizi Tecnici Nazionali (DSTN), Rome (Italy), Hydrographic Institute of Croatia (Croatia), 

Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e 

Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS; Italy), 

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center (USA), U.S. Naval 

Research Laboratory, Monterey (USA), 

National Institute of Biology (Slovenia), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Undersea Research Centre 

(Italy), Ruder Boskovic Institute (Croatia), Scripps Institution of Oceanography 

(USA), University of Ancona (Italy), University of Hawaii (USA), University of 

Miami (USA), University of Washington 

(USA), University of Zagreb (Croatia).

For additional information, please 

contact:

Christopher R. Sherwood or

Richard P. Signell

U.S. Geological Survey

384 Woods Hole Road

Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

E-mail: csherwood@usgs.gov

 rsignell@usgs.gov

Model Web site: http//marine.rutgers.edu/

po/index.php?model=roms

Figure 3. Time series comparison of modeled (red) and measured (black) time series 

of wave heights at several locations in the 

western Adriatic. (Italian buoy data provided 

by Dr. L. Cavaleri.)

Figure 4. Modeled mean depth-averaged flow, 

November 2002–May 2003

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