Seafloor Observatory Science: a Review

Abstract

The ocean exerts a pervasive influence on Earth's environment. It is therefore important that we learn how this system operates (NRC, 1998b;. For example, the ocean is an important regulator of climate change (e.g., IPCC, 1995). Understanding the link between natural and anthropogenic climate change and ocean circulation is essential for predicting the magnitude and impact of future changes in Earth's climate. Understanding the ocean, and the complex physical, biological, chemical, and geological systems operating within it, should be an important goal for the opening decades of the 21st century. Another fundamental reason for increasing our understanding of ocean systems is that the global economy is highly dependent on the ocean (e.g., for tourism, fisheries, hydrocarbons, and mineral resources) (Summerhayes, 1996). The establishment of a global network of seafloor observatories will help to provide the means to accomplish this goal. These observatories will have power and communication capabilities and will provide support for spatially distributed sensing systems and mobile platforms. Sensors and instruments will potentially collect data from above the air-sea interface to below the seafloor. Seafloor observatories will also be a powerful complement to satellite measurement systems by providing the ability to collect vertically distributed measurements within the water column for use with the spatial measurements acquired by satellites while also providing the capability to calibrate remotely sensed satellite measurements (NRC, 2000). Ocean observatory science has already had major successes. For example the TAO array has enabled the detection, understanding and prediction of El Niño events (e.g., Fujimoto et al., 2003). This paper is a world-wide review of the new emerging «Seafloor Observatory Science», and describes both the scientific motivations for seafloor observatories and the technical solutions applied to their architecture. A description of world-wide past and ongoing experiments, as well as concepts presently under study, is also given, with particular attention to European projects and to the Italian contribution. Finally, there is a discussion on «Seafloor Observatory Science» perspectives.

One Year of Seismicity Recorded Through Ocean Bottom Seismometers Illuminates Active Tectonic Structures in the Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean)

“…These limits can be overcome by implementing networks of Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs), designed as self-contained data acquisition systems deployed at the seafloor, where they are able to self-install and record ground motion data with high signal-to-noise ratio. The OBSs constitute the bulk modules or multi-sensor seafloor observatories, a new class of instruments, which are changing our knowledge of geologic processes in seas and oceans, gathering useful data for a variety of scientific investigations ranging from the deep Earth's structure to surface processes (e.g., Favali and Beranzoli, 2006;Billi et al, 2020).…”

“…In the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, an OBS network surrounding the Aeolian Islands operated for six months during the TYDE experiment (Dahm et al, 2002), detecting an intense seismicity of tectonic and volcanic origins (Sgroi et al, 2006;Sgroi et al, 2009). In the Ionian Sea, the deployment of the NEMO-SN1 seafloor observatory (Favali and Beranzoli, 2006) allowed for synchronous recordings of time-series for multidisciplinary studies and provided useful information on oceanic areas and, in particular, on volcanic and tectonic structures (Sgroi et al, 2007;Sgroi et al, 2014;Sgroi et al, 2019;Sgroi et al, 2021).…”

Management and Sustainable Exploitation of Marine Environments through Smart Monitoring and Automation

“…They constantly measure different parameters. Data are collected and available to different users, from scientists and industries to institutions and policy makers [104]. The EMSO infrastructure range runs at the European scale from the coastal area to the deep sea and open ocean, operating with both stand-alone observing systems and nodes connected to shore stations through fiber optic cable [105].…”

A Modular Wave Energy Converter for Observational and Navigational Buoys

“…Ocean and weather forecasting can potentially influence our sources of food, jobs, security, and energy resources. Therefore, it is essential to continuously observe ocean characteristics, properties, and its ecosystem [1][2][3].…”