Data monitoring and sea level forecasting in the Venice Lagoon: the ICPSM’s activity

A complete description of the Istituzione Centro Previsioni e Segnalazioni Maree (ICPSM) of the Venice Municipality is given, together with some notions about the characteristics of the tide and the wave motion in the Venice Lagoon. The monitoring network of the ICPSM, for the observation of oceanographic and meteorological parameters in the lagoon and in the northern Adriatic Sea, is described in its different parts: the tide gauge and meteorological monitoring network, the meteorological stations at the Venice Lido Hospital, the wave gauge network and the Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler at the Chioggia inlet. The procedures adopted for the data quality control are reported. The data exploitation is displayed in all its different aspects from the sea level forecast to the daily information activities and the operative plan in case of exceptional high tide.