Laguna di Venezia - Italy

Ecosystem Type: Transitional Waters Several stations studied in the frame of various research programs UTM (33T) Coordinates min X 272981 max X 315416; min Y 5006977 max Y 5049706. The Venice Lagoon is located at the northwestern part of the Adriatic Sea between the current mouths of the Sile and Brenta rivers, ranging in longitude between the UTM (33T) coordinates 272981 and 315416, in Latitude between 5006977 and 5049706 . The Lagoon of Venice is one of the most important Mediterranean Transitional Water Systems. Human presence has constantly modified the original estuarine structure so that the lagoon can be nowadays considered as a human-oriented ecosystem, still maintaining strong natural traits. The lagoon is on average about 50 Km long and 10 Km wide. The lagoon is connected to the sea by three lagoon-inlets and the physical separation between the lagoon and the Adriatic Sea is constituted by two barrier islands and the two spits. The basin surface covers about 550 Km2, roughly 80% of which is covered by water, about 10% by salt marshes and about 5% by islands (excluding the barrier islands). The average depth of the lagoon is about 1.5 meters. The volume of water contained in the lagoon is about 628 million cubic meters. The Lagoon of Venice has a Cfa climate. The drainage basin is 1850 Km2, about 40% of the drainage basin is reclaimed land laying under the sea level. Tide and winds are the main forcing physical factors. Tides are mixed, predominantly semidiurnal. The intertidal range (HAT-LAT) is 121 cm. SThe majority of the lagoon Waters can be classified as Mixoeuhaline/(Mixo-)polyhaline.