The Underwater Biotechnological Park of Crete (UBPC) is an applied research infrastructure established in 2015.  It occupies a seafloor area of 2.5 hectares at depths between 18 and 22 m in the Gulf of Heraklion, Crete, one nautical mile from the coast. Its main objectives are:

• the continuous monitoring of coastal environmental parameters
• the experimental cultivation and study of marine biological resources
• the development and testing of methods in fisheries management and marine ecotourism

The underwater experimental facility is fully supported by the scientific diving unit operated by IMBBC. At the core of the experimental area, an underwater observatory continuously monitoring environmental parameters, comprising three autonomous oceanographic instruments (ADCP, CTD, fluorometer) deployed on the seafloor and an array of temperature loggers deployed along the water column.

Equipment of the seafloor observatory operating at the core of the underwater experimental facility:

• SonTek Acoustic Doppler Profiler (water velocity; 24 cells, 1 m cell size; wave height)
• SAIV SD208 CTD (conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen)
• Turner Designs C3 Fluorometer (in-vivo chlorophyll sensor, turbidity sensor, fluorescein sensor)
• Onset HOBO Pro v2 U-22 temperature loggers (temperature along the water column, array of 6)