For 16 days from 18 June to 3 July 2016 the project by Bulgarian artist Vladimirov Yavachev CHRISTO has reinterpreted Lake Iseo creating a walkway formed by a modular system of floating docks of 200.000 cubes in high density polyethylene, covered by 70.000 meters paintings of iridescent yellow fabric.
The work that immediately turned out to be a world-wide attraction that develops on the surface of the water following the movement of the waves, has a length of 3,0 kilometers of piers on water total and visitors were able to take advantage of the work along its entire length from Sulzano to Monte Isola and then to the island of San Paolo.
For the preparation, organization and management of the international work of art (exceeded on 30 June 1 million visitors) the company "Floating Piers" and the prefecture of the city of Brescia have promoted the creation of an operations room from which monitor all aspects related to the safety of visitors, among which the continuous monitoring of the weather conditions on Lake Iseo stands out.
In this perspective, the Brescia prefect requested the contribution of the Italian Air Force in terms of support to the ARPA (the only institution at regional level responsible for issuing weather forecasts on the territory for the purposes of civil protection) in the activity of monitoring weather conditions for the entire period when the work is open to the public.
The operations room, called "Coordination Committee (CoC)" located in the headquarters of the Mountain Community of Sebino Bresciano in the municipality of Sale Marasino, has been structured in 8 main functions, through which all the activities related to the impact of the event on the territory (roads and transport, public security, relations with the media, health, telecommunications, volunteering and assistance to the population, local authorities and weather service).
The weather function, whose responsibility is attested to the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Lombardy (ARPA) was organized in two locations, ARPA and Aeronautica Militare.
Two forecast bulletins were issued daily, monitoring the weather conditions in the area surrounding Lake Iseo (radius 80 Km) through the IRIS platform, which integrates radar data and observations from automatic weather stations.
The Air Force, through the armed forces systems (Prometeo and WEGO), integrated the information deriving from the IRIS platform and from the Agency systems, providing a significant consultancy work in the forecasting on the specific site and collaborating in the activity monitoring (NOWCASTING) to mitigate the risks associated with dangerous and typical intense and sudden meteorological phenomena that characterize the lacustrine microclimate.
The staff of AM forecasts allowed the constant updating on the evolution of the meteorological framework, in close and synergic contact with the ARPA staff, in order to make the decision-making process by the "Floating Piers" company as fast and effective as possible in order to ensure the unavoidable safety of the cyclopic accommodation facility for users from all over the world who will leave an unforgettable sign in the history of the Brescia area and of the country.
