Monitoring extreme meteo-marine events in the Mediterranean area using the microseism (Medicane Apollo case study)

Abstract

Microseism is the continuous background seismic signal caused by the interaction between the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the solid Earth. Several studies have dealt with the relationship between microseisms and the tropical cyclones, but none focused on the small-scale tropical cyclones that occur in the Mediterranean Sea, called Medicanes. In this work, we analysed the Medicane Apollo which impacted the eastern part of Sicily during the period 25 October–5 November 2021 causing heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts and violent sea waves. We investigated the microseism accompanying this extreme Mediterranean weather event, and its relationship with the sea state retrieved from hindcast maps and wave buoys. The spectral and amplitude analyses showed the space–time variation of the microseism amplitude. In addition, we tracked the position of Apollo during the time using two different methods: (i) a grid search method; (ii) an array analysis. We obtained a good match between the real position of Apollo and the location constraint by both methods. This work shows that it is possible to extract information on Medicanes from microseisms for both research and monitoring purposes.

Characterization of extreme wave fields during Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones

“…Lastly, Apollo developed near the Libyan coast on 25 October 2021 and moved north, towards the coasts of eastern Sicily and central-western Ionian Sea, becoming more intense due to the high temperatures of the Mediterranean Sea, and assumed the typical features of a Medicane on 28 October (green solid line in Figure 2). The main regions affected by the passage of the Apollo were the Italian areas between Catania, Messina and Siracusa (Sicily), with huge coastal flooding, wind speeds up to 33 m/s along the Sicilian coast (accelerated by the effect of local topography) and intense precipitations, with a peak of 448 mm/48 h recorded by the Sicilian Meteorological service near Catania (Borzì et al, 2022).…”

Seismic Signature of the Super Cyclone Amphan in Bay of Bengal Using Coastal Observatories Operating Under National Seismological Network of India

“…Several researchers have carried out different seismological analyses of SBN to characterize cyclone generated oceanic as well as seismic waves for their effective monitoring (e.g., Borzi et al., 2022; Chi et al, 2010; Diaz et al, 2023; Fan et al., 2019; Gerstoft et al., 2006; Gualteri et al, 2018; Hua et al, 2023; Retailleau & Gualtieri, 2019; Sufri et al, 2014; Tabulevich, 1971; Zhang et al, 2010). They applied a wide range of methods to monitor oceanic storms with seismological waveforms, such as single station (Sufri et al., 2014), array analysis (Borzi et al., 2022; Hua et al, 2023), and seismic interferometry (Retailleau et al., 2017). However, no one has yet to monitor the tropical cyclones formed in the Indian Ocean seismically.…”

A Seismic Monitoring Tool for Tidal-Forced Aquifer Level Changes in the Río de la Plata Coastal Plain, Argentina

“…These vibrations find practical utility in various applications, such as local or regional passive seismic tomography [6,7] and engineering seismology aimed at understanding seismic site effects [8][9][10]. Additionally, they play a pivotal role in environmental seismology applications, monitoring parameters such as aquifer levels [11,12], river transportation characteristics [13,14], glacier discharge [15,16], landslides [17][18][19], and meteo-marine events associated with phenomena like "hurricane" and "microseism" [20,21]. A key advantage of ambient vibrations lies in their continuous nature, offering an uninterrupted signal capable of capturing alterations in the subsoil's physical properties.…”