An ambitious proposal for a system of sensors and cameras on the sea floor could lead to huge scientific benefits, writes Dick Ahlstrom
Scientists and the public alike will soon be given a completely new view of the Earth's final frontier, the deep oceans. Plans are under way to place a network of cameras and sensors on the sea floor to allow constant, real-time monitoring of the marine environment, with the added bonus that we will all be able to take part.
"It will allow the world to see with a new set of eyes," says Prof John Delaney of the University of Washington. "It will be a voyage to the planet ocean and because it is hard wired to the internet we can take everyone on the planet with us."
Prof Delaney is professor of oceanography and the Jerome M Paros Endowed Chair in Sensor Networks at the university. Last night he delivered a lecture in Dublin organised by the Marine Institute and the Royal Irish Academy on what this ambitious initiative will mean for science, fisheries, marine protection, tsunami and earthquake warning and a host of other possibilities.
Canada and the US are already collaborating on a plan to build a sensor network covering the entire Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, a place where the Pacific Ocean sea-floor is being pushed under the North American landmass. This massive collision triggers earthquakes and volcanic activity along the plate's edges, making it particularly interesting for a wide range of scientific studies.
The network would see the laying of a backbone fibre optic cable that would connect to "nodes" some distance out into the ocean. The nodes would support remote sensors that would draw power from the cable but also relay huge volumes of data back to land.
"It will take the tectonic plate and turn it into a natural observatory," he says. It would be an observatory like no other, however, given it would place the observing sensors out in the region being studied.
The real-time nature of the information stream will also support the use of robots. "We will be able to deploy autonomous and partially autonomous robots to move into an area of interest."
Current figures suggest the combined US/Canadian network could be built for about $250 million (€180 million).
Prof Delaney is also here this week to advise the Marine Institute on its two planned remote sensor networks, Smartbay and Celtnet. The former will be installed in Galway over the next three years and will see sensors placed as far out as the Aran Islands.
Celtnet is part of a wider €400million EU initiative to build a monitoring network all along the EU's Atlantic coastlines from Norway to Spain. Celtnet will reach far out into the Atlantic into the Porcupine Basin.