Il laboratorio naturale di Reggio Calabria (Italia meridionale): il primo ad operare direttamente in mare The natural laboratory of Reggio Calabria (Southern Italy): the first one to operate directly in the sea

In the paper the experiments on the quasi-determinismtheory of the wave groups, introduced by Boccotti(1983, 1984, 1988, 1989,2000), are described both for the field of progressive and standing waves. These experiments have been carried out in the sea of Reggio Calabria, in 1990 and 1991. The sea of Reggio Calabria represents, for a combination of favorable enviromental factors, a natural laboratory where some wind-generated waves occur, representing small scale models of strong Mediterrannean and oceanic sea storms. In 1992 and 1993, two experiments were performed regarding the wave forces on small scale models of offshore structures. The first structure was a 1:50 scale model of a gravity platform and the second was a 1:30 scale model of a submerged tunnel for the crossing of the Messina Strait. In 2001 and 2005 two experiments on the wave energy absorption were done. On May 2001, the structure consisted in a 1:10 scale model of a cubic caisson, placed on the bottom of the sea, in which a vertical duct was inserted. The superior mouth of the duct is beneath the sea surface while the inferior one was above the base of the caisson. On March 2005, the small-scale model of a breakwater embodying an OWC has been built in the natural laboratory of Reggio Calabria. The structure was the 1:10 scale model of a hypothesis of breakwater for the North-East Pacific coast. Alternatively, it may be thought the 1:6 scale model of a breakwater located in the Mediterranean sea.

Nella memoria vengono descritti gli esperimenti sulla teoria di quasi-determinismo o dei gruppi di onde introdotta da Boccotti sia per il campo di onde progressive che stazionarie. Tali esperimenti sono stati realizzati nel mare di Reggio Calabria grazie ad una combinazione di fattori favorevoli, un laboratorio naturale dove si realizzano delle onde che rappresentano modelli in scala ridotta di forti mareggiate mediterranee e oceaniche.