Cabled Ocean Observatory Systems

Abstract

Future studies of episodic processes in the ocean and earth will require new tools to complement traditional, ship-based, expeditionary science. This will be enabled through the construction of innovative facilities called ocean observatories which provide unprecedented amounts of power and two-way bandwidth to access and control instrument networks in the oceans. The most capable ocean observatories are designed around a submarine fiber optic/power cable connecting one or more seafloor science nodes to the terrestrial power grid and communications backhaul. This paper defines the top level requirements that drive cabled observatory design and the system engineering environment within which a scientifically-capable infrastructure can be implemented. Commercial high reliability submarine telecommunication technologies which will be crucial in the design of long term cabled observatories are then reviewed. The top level architecture of a generic cabled observatory, describing the main subsystems comprising the whole and defining technological approaches to their engineering, is then described, along with some example design choices and tradeoff studies.

A remotely operated serial sampler for collecting gas-tight fluid samples

“…Traditional ship-based explorations are labor intensive and have limited time resolutions. The cabled ocean observatories which provide unprecedented amounts of power and two-way bandwidth communication to access and control scientific instruments deployed in the oceans are regarded as the innovative facilities for future ocean sciences (Chave et al, 2004(Chave et al, , 2006Chen et al, 2012). Although many kinds of sensors have been developed and used to characterize various ocean environments, these in-situ measurements are often insufficient to fully investigate important scientific questions.…”

Macrofouling of deep-sea instrumentation after three years at 3690m depth in the Charlie Gibbs fracture zone, mid-Atlantic ridge, with emphasis on hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa)

“…Migneco, 2008;Margiotta, 2010) and fully-cabled observatory networks (e.g. Chave et al, 2004;Barnes et al, 2008), which must remain operational on decadal time scales.…”

Experimental study of a mechatronic system applied for subsea science instruments

“…The important role of ocean observatories in future oceanography has received international acknowledgement [1]. At the beginning of this century, a construction of innovative facilities called cabled ocean observatories has been initiated by scientists and has been or being proposed all over the world [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. By netting all independent subsea instruments with terrestrial power grid and global Internet via subsea coaxial cables and special mechanic-electric facilities so that unprecedented amounts of power and wide bandwidth can be provided to access and control subsea instruments.…”