Project contract no. 036851 ESONET European Seas Observatory Network

Instrument: Network of Excellence (NoE) Thematic Priority: 1.1.6.3 – Climate Change and Ecosystems

Sub Priority: III – Global Change and Ecosystems

Project Deliverable D#15 ESONET News

European observe the deep sea

Due date of deliverable: month #14,17,20,23 Actual submission date of report: month #23

Start of project: March 2007 Duration: 48 months Project Coordinator: Roland PERSON Coordinator organisation name: IFREMER, France Work Package #6

Networking Participant #1 and #23

Lead Authors: Roland PERSON (Ifremer) Jorge Miguel MIRANDA (FFCUL)

Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) Dissemination Level

PU Public

PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)

RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)

CO Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................ 5 ESONews – Spring 2008 - Vol2 – Issue 1.................................................................. 7 ESONews – Fall 2008 - Vol2, Issue 2 ........................................................................15 ESONews – Winter 2008-2009 - Vol.2, Issue 3..........................................................20

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The design and production of ESONEWS, the newsletter of the European Sea Observatory Network, were developed and constantly improved during the period under analysis. The newsletter was designed to disseminate the state-of-the-art of seafloor observatory development in Europe, the experience of the different institutions on the design and maintenance of long term seafloor observations, the developing market of private suppliers and partners, and the specific actions driven by ESONET NoE: standardisation rules, integration of sea operations, demonstration missions, etc… A major upgrade of the graphic layout of the newsletter was made, to foster its distribution in major international technological and scientific conferences. Three issues of ESONEWS (Summer, Fall and Winter 2008) gathered contributions from the different partners and SMEs. They were focused on existing seafloor platforms operated by INGV, IFREMER and Aberdeen University (GEOSTAR, ASSEM and DELOS). The articles were prepared in cooperation between the ESONEWS editors and some of the core partners and the layout was prepared by a third party. Paper versions were prepared and distributed among partners by mail, in a total of 1000 copies. A digital version was also prepared to be disseminated by electronic means by ESONET central offices. All ESONEWS Newsletters intended to spread basic information on ESONET initiatives and basic aspects of technology and science associated with deep seafloor observation.

HistoryASSEM concept was developed in the framework of an EC FP5 specific research and technological development program “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Develop-ment” (contract EVK3-CT2001-00051, ASSEM project) by a consortium led by IFREMER. ASSEM was designed as a light (less than 250 kg) and deep (4000 m water depth rated) platform. The first prototype was produced at IFRE-MER Brest Center in January 2004 and its objective was to monitor a set of geotechnical, geodesic and chemical parameters distributed on a specific seabed area in order to better understand the slope instability phenomena and to assess and possibly anticipate the associated risks (Blan-din et al., 2003). Two test sites were selected to proof the basic concepts, one in Norway and the other in the Gulf of Corinth. The success of these operations fostered its use in a set of new targets, particular in the framework of ESO-NET Demonstration Missions.

ScopeASSEM developed a new concept of sea bed observatory dedicated to long term monitoring of seabed parameters concerning an area of some km2, based on a cost-effective and light platform where sensors could be installed in a standardized way and able to share a common data and communication infrastructure. Deploy and recovery of ASSEM was thought to be made using available ROV or submersible facilities. The design of ASSEM, described below, was made as mod-ular as possible, with standard connecting and easy instal-lation interfaces allowing to adapt the system to the site of interest, add new sensors and replace components for main-tenance. In this sense, ASSEM is understood as an array of nodes, that can be deployed almost independently, and that interact in such a way that they can cooperate in a large monitoring multi-parameter monitoring operation.A two-way communication link between sensors and be-tween them and the shore is built on either an acoustic net-work, or wired links, to allow a large diversity of connection devices, either local (e.g. ROV) or remote. Local storage of all the raw data in each node with local analysis resources able to generate alarms is also a key element, adding reli-ability and redundancy on the information fluxes, critical for warning systems.

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The Newsletter of the EuropeanSea Observatory Network

Volume 2 Issue 1

ASSEMTechnology

Spring 2008

ASSEM technologypág. 1

Teledyne Benthospág. 5

ESONET Demo Missionspág. 7

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Electronic DesignASSEM is designed as an array, composed of several nodes. Each node includes an electronic unit, named COSTOF (for COmmunication and STOrage Front-end), through which all sensors available (pore pressure, methane, geodesy, tilt-meter, CTD, turbidity, currents, …) can communicate. The architecture is organized around an internal CAN/CANopen bus hosting sensors, communication and data storage re-sources on a common transmission backbone. All the mod-ules connected to the bus include the same “kernel” card and a specific extension card. Each “kernel” card includes a Atmega129L processor, a 2 Mb flash memory, a real time clock and 2 RS232 links.The software resources needed to enable a monitoring node to act as a network node (routing algorithms throughout the network, network configuration management, data transmis-sion protocol and other network layers) are implemented in every COSTOF unit. Warnings can be generated for exam-ple if a critical parameter, or a group of parameters, comes above a preset threshold for a given time length.This distributed architecture allows to configure a Moni-toring Node very easily and to add new functions without modifying the existing ones.

Mechanical DesignThe same modularity concept is applied to the mechani-cal design. The usual deployment and maintenance pro-cedures imply the use of a submersible or a ROV, but free fall launching is possible if needed. The design includes some innovations:• A low cost underwater connection system is used to re-place in-situ power packs, to install or to replace sensors and to establish cabled links between nodes, if needed;• A contact-less serial interface (CLSI) allows to test the

Cable deployment of ORION 4 in the ASSEM Gulf of Corinth network

Basic Design of the ASSEM nodes

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node before launching and during maintenance operations;• The acoustic array, with bell-shape protection is mounted at the top of a flexible mast to have protection against trawlers.Lithium cells are used as power source. Two voltages, 12 V and 24 V, are available on the ASSEM platform with a capacity up to 16 kWh. Power packs are replaceable by ROV or submersible. Protection devices against trawling are used and the acoustic transmitter is installed on a spe-cial flexible arm.

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Geodetic base to be deployed with the help of a submersible

Map of Seismic Events

Location of Finneifjord Experiment

SensorsA lot of sensors can be installed on an ASSEM node. The configuration is chosen depending of the scientific objec-tives. Usually, temperature sensors are implemented on all nodes. At least, one node from a network is equipped with a CTD probe and another one (or the same) with a current meter. Turbidity sensor, current profiler, static and dynamic water pressure are also options available. Pore pressure is an important parameter for the modifications of the soil before and during any geohazard event. It is possible to measure pore pressure at several levels, in bore holes down to 200m and in tubes of CPT probes inserted in the sediment layer down to 30m.The natural occurrence and emission of gas on the sea floor (methane seeps) are increasingly recognized as an important marine process for its environmental and geohazard impli-cations. A methane sensor from CAPSUM was adapted for long term deployment. In tectonically active areas, ground deformation sensors are claimed but geodesy is still in its infancy in deep water. Dif-ferent sensors have been developed and tested: a long range taut wire distancemeter (NGI) for measurement of distances up to 200m with accuracy of a few millimeters, an acoustic distancemeter (IPGP) and a tiltmeter.

Acoustic NetworkASSEM uses an acoustic network based on the MATS 200/R acoustic modem from ORCA instrumentation. This digital modem based on micro-controller and DSP cards, is capable of data transmission under adverse channel condi-

tions. Original network protocols, with autonomous hand-shaking and adaptive bit rate, adaptive modulation and adaptive routing were implemented. Patented modems perform noise analysis and impulse re-sponse measurement of the channel.

Pilot ExperimentsTwo pilot projects were designed to test the efficiency of ASSEM concept. Both deal with geo-hazards but in dif-ferent geological contexts. The complexity of the moni-toring strategy needed to recover relevant information on the seafloor was important to test the distributed approach, and the heterogeneity of sensors needed.

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FinneidfjordThe first pilot experiment using ASSEM technonolgy was conducted at a site with a risk of slope instability, in Fin-neidfjord. The experiment was active during 4 month, using 2 monitoring nodes, and sensors for pore pressure methane, temperature and tiltmeter.

Gulf of CorinthThe second experiment took place in the Gulf of Corinth. The shelf (with its pockmarks), the slope and the margin of the basin off the coast of a faulted area were selected for the deployment of the ASSEM array of sensors. It is the most active extensional basin in Europe, with more than 1 cm/year of deformation across the Gulf and high rates of margin uplift. Together with physical oceanograph-ic measurements, both horizontal and vertical deformation devices were installed. Horizontal deformation estimates were based on acoustic traveltime measurements and verti-cal deformation estimates on pressure measurements. The monitoring operation took place during 7 months with a sea-bed network of 5 nodes including one designed in the FP5 ORION project. It ensured real time access to gas, geodesy and seismic data.

ConclusionsASSEM presents a new concept of real time sea floor obser-vatories dedicated to deliver warning information and col-lect data with low sampling rate. It can be operated alone or linked to other observatory system, such as GEOSTAR/ORION system. Its concept can be applied to other long term studies in a wide variety of applications such as bio-logical ones or in emergency to environment moni toring of dangerous wrecked ship.The automated alert function on ASSEM pilot experiment in the Gulf of Corinth issued a warning message that was initiated and transmitted within 1 mn 54 s to the server at IPGP in Paris. The International Coordination Meeting for the Development of a Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Sys-tem for the Indian Ocean within a global framework during their meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (3-8 March 2005) indicates that 15 mn is a basic data transmission pe-riod for “real-time”. The objective is to reach 2 mn in dedi-cated warning networks.Interoperability is a major concern of modern observatory design. During the pilot missions, ASSEM showed the ca-pabilities to deploy in the same cruise on board HCMR re-search vessel AEGEO the equipments of IPGP, Tecnomare/INGV, Ifremer, Sercel/IFREMER, and Capsum with HCMR crew. This point the success of the clustering between AS-

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Location of ASSEM network in the Gulf of Corinth Pilot Project

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SEM and ORION platforms and to the feasibility of interop-erable underwater networks.ASSEM showed the capabilities to deploy in the same cruise on board HCMR ship AEGEO the equipments of IPGP, Tecnomare/INGV, Ifremer, Sercel/IFREMER, and Capsum with HCMR crew.

AcknowledgementsASSEM Consortium was formed by IFREMER (Yannick AOUSTIN, Jean-Yves COAIL, Jacky DUPONT, Gérard GUY-ADER, Yves LE GALL, Julien LEGRAND, Bernard LEIL-DE, Jean-Pierre LEVEQUE, Jean-François MASSET, Roland PERSON, Pascal PICHAVANT and Jean-Pierre SUDREAU), NGI (John H. LØVHOLT, Per SPARREVIK and James M. STROUT), IPGP (Jérôme AMMANN, Valérie BALLU, Al-exandre NERCESSIAN and Olivier POT), INGV (Giuseppe ETIOPE and Giuditta MARINARO), CAPSUM (Michel MAS-SON), HCMR (Matina ALEXANDRI, Dionysis BALLAS, Kostas KATSAROS, Vasilis LYKOUSIS, Aggelos MALLIOS, Theodoros POTOPOULOS, Dimitris SAKELLARIOU, Vasi-lis STASSINOS, Spyros VOLO NAKIS, the Captains and the Crew from R/V AEGAEO), UPAT (Dimitris CHRISTODOU-LOU, George FERENTINOS and George PAPATHEODOR-OU), FUGRO as “THALES Geosolutions”(David CATHIE, Chris GOLIGHTLY and Steven SMOLDERS).

References[1] EC FP5 in the specific research and technological develop-ment programme “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Devel-opment” (contract EVK3-CT2001-00051, ASSEM project).

[2] Blandin J, R. Person, J.M. Strout, P. Briole, G. Etiope, M. Masson, C.R. Golightly, V; Lykousis, G. Ferentinos (2002). ASSEM: Array of Sensors for long term Seabed Monitoring of geohazards. Proc. Underwater Technology, Tokyo, 16-19 April 2002, p.111

[3] Blandin J, R. Person, J.M. Strout, P. Briole, G. Etiope, M. Masson, C.R. Golightly, V; Lykousis, G. Ferentinos (2003): ASSEM: a new concept of observatory applied to long term SEabed Monitoring of geohazards, in Proceed-ings of OCEAN’2003, San Diego, 115.

[4] Blandin J., Rolin, J.F. An Array of Sensors for the Seabed Monitoring of Geohazards, a Versatile Solution for the Long -Term Real-Time Monitoring of Distributed Seabed Param-eters. Sea Technology December 2005, Volume 46, No. 12. [5] Person R, Aoustin Y, Blandin J, Marvaldi J and Rolin J-F. From bottom landers to observatory networks. ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 49, N. 2/3, April/June 2006.

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Customer: Florida Institute of OceanographyDepth: Approximately 5 metersRange: Up to 800 metersData Rate: 1,200 bits/sec data throughput with error correction convolutional codingHost Sensor: Falmouth Scientific, Inc. NXIC Auto-500 CTD

The Problem:The over active 2005 hurricane season damaged weather stations in the Florida Keys. These weather stations send real-time data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Data Buoy Center, NDBC, to be distributed to national weather providers. Some stations suf-fered severe damage and were completely destroyed. Others were damaged and scheduled to be rebuilt.Sand Key just south-west of Key West, Florida was one sta-tion scheduled to be rebuilt but one problem was evident on the evaluation trip. The structure on which the CTD was mounted was so badly damaged that the Coast Guard removed it completely. This posed a problem for the Florida Institute of Oceanography, FIO, who was charged with the care of this station. The second problem was the station is located in an area with very low tides that could possibly cause the instru-

ment to come out of the water when at low tide.What was needed was a combination of equipment that would allow FIO to monitor the ocean environment using the Falmouth Scientific, Inc, FSI, CTD wirelessly from a distance at which the instrument could be located in water deep enough to sustain a reading at any tide.

The Solution:Teledyne Benthos, Inc Acoustic Telemetry Modem Series ATM-885 are designed to connect to an RS-232/RS-422 instru-ment and telemeter the data to a receiver with range capabilities of transmitting from 1 to 10,000 meters. The modem is capable in the omni-directional form of transmitting a 180° beam pat-tern which allows it to send and receive data in shallow water very well over both long and short distances. The data transmit-ted to a receiver which is capable of transmitting and receiving data for bidirectional half duplex communications.

TELEDYNE BENTHOSReal Time Acquisition of CTD data froma remotely deployed CTD

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Around Sand Key just south-west of Key West, Florida there are marker buoys that cordon off a protected reef area that is closed to fishing. These markers are moored to the sea floor with large weights which are located in approximately 5 meters of water. The buoys were selected as an installation site for the CTD and ATM-885 based modem based on lo-cal knowledge to avoid this area and because there were no physical blockages between the two modems.Since flotation and release capability was required for this appli-cation the SMART Modem and Release Technology, SMART, pioneered by Teledyne Benthos was put to use. The SMART SM-75 was used because it provides an omni-directional trans-ducer, internal battery, modem functionality, flotation in the form of a glass sphere and acoustically triggered burnwire re-

lease. This multifunction unit allows the mooring to be small, easy to deploy and inexpensive. The FSI CTD was mounted to the side of the SM-75 and a counter weight was installed to al-low the SM-75 to float vertically in the water column.The unit was set to output data every hour so that the weath-er station could send the data to NDBC for use by national weather providers. The data was being transmitted 800 me-ters horizontally.The mooring package was at a depth of 3 to 5 meters and the receiver was at a depth of one to less then one meter at low tide. Mounted on the weather station was an ATM-885R PCB kit that uses a 25 meter cable to connect to an AT-408 omni-directional dunking transducer. Data was then sent to the NDBC payload and transmitted via satellite to shore.

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Our thanks to Jon Fajans, FIO and Jeff Bartkowski, FSI.

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LidoLIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean environment) proposes to establish a first nucleus of a regional network of multidis-ciplinary seafloor observatories contributing to the coordi-nation of high quality research in the ESONET NoE by al-lowing the long-term monitoring of Geohazards and Marine Ambient Noise in the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Atlantic waters. Specific activities are addressed to a long-term monitoring of earthquakes and tsunamis and the char-acterisation of ambient noise induced by marine mammals (Bioacoustics) and anthropogenic noise.

MoMAR-DThe MoMAR-D proposal will address all the tasks connect-ed to the implementation of a seafloor observatory to study the temporal variability of active processes such as hydro-thermalism, ecosystem dynamics, volcanism, seismicity and ground deformation, in order to constrain the dynamics of mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal ecosystems•To deploy a multidisciplinary acoustically linked observing system, with satellite connection to shore, •To integrate the partners’ observation means around an existing and proven, non cabled, long term sub sea monitoring infrastructure. •To demonstrate the overall management of this system during 1 month even if its operation will actually continue during 12 months.

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ESONET NoE, according to the DoW, supports pilot experi-ments at sea and site surveys that help to define the moni-toring strategies and the most appropriate parameters to be measured in order to meet the scientific objectives. The pilot experiment are implemented in the Demonstration Missions (DMs). DMs are considered means to strengthen the inte-gration process of the ESONET NoE scientific and techno-logical community bringing at high level of excellence the technology at different development phases, implementing the standardisation and interoperability of the different plat-forms from the consortium. DMs are also aimed at acquir-ing relevant scientific time-series. They will be an input for integrated studies, common workshops and a raw material to demonstrate the integration of data management.Four DM proposals were approved for funding in January 2008:

Marmara SeaThe goal of the present demonstration mission is to con-tribute to the establishment of optimized permanent seafloor observatory stations for earthquake monitoring in the Mar-mara Sea, as part of ESONET NoE. The Marmara Sea (MS) offers the ideal location for seafloor seismogenic observations directed towards risk assessment, because of the following reasons:1. The deformation rates (20 mm/y) are very high compared to any other marine sites in Europe, resulting in active sub-marine processes that are measurable on short time scales, 2. More than 15 millions people are under the threat of seis-mogenic hazard in the whole Marmara Region. Hence, the continuous seafloor monitoring would have societal impact.3. Numerous fluid vents and related features have been dis-covered along the MS fault system. The MS is thus a unique area to test hypothesis on the relations between strike-slip deformation, seismic activity, fluid flow and gas expulsion within the active fault zone.

ESONETDemonstration Missions

Nautile dives in Marmara Sea during MARNAUT:–Red : cold seeps found–White : no cold seeps

MOMAR:sampling on an hydrothermal vent

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EsoNews is a publication from ESONET Network of ExcellenceExecutive Editor: J. M. Miranda • Managing Editor: Roland PersonPrinted at REPRO2000ESONET Office • IFREMER Centre de Brest, BP 70 29280 Plouzané, FRANCE • Tel: + 332 98 22 40 96 - Fax: + 332 98 22 46 50email: esonet-coordinator@ifremer.fr - URL: http://www.esonet-emso.orgTo receive the ESONEWS letter by Email, send an Email to sympa@ifremer.fr, with <SUBscribe esonews> in the subject, if you are not already registered

Loome DMLOOME DM is a networking action for the long-term observa-tion of a major site of methane emission from the deep Euro-pean margin, the Håkon Mosby mud volcano (HMMV). The HMMV is a cold seep ecosystem located at a water depth of 1250 m on the SW Barents Sea slope off Norway, in an area with a history of seabed slides and tsunamis, and under exploi-tation for hydrocarbon resources and fisheries. The Barents Sea slope is a target area for sustainable management and monitor-ing of global change effects. A main goal of the project is the integration of existing technology to establish in a first phase an autonomous non-cabled observatory for seafloor seismics, temperature and pore pressure, chemical profiling, sonar detec-tion of gas flares, methane measurements and hydrography of bottom water, together with the study of colonization patterns, community structure and biodiversity.

High resolution Hakon Mosby map

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The Newsletter of the EuropeanSea Observatory Network

Volume 2 Issue 2

DELOS Projectpág. 1

Instrument Modulespág. 4

Sciencepág. 6

Cabled KM3NeT Obs.Pág. 7

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Oceanlab is the sub-sea research facility of the University of Aberdeen. It was commissioned in 2001.Oceanlab 1 was the first purpose-built ocean lander labora-tory in the world, located close to the centre of the North Sea oil industry with direct access to the most sophisticated sub-sea industry suppliers in Europe. The 1100 m2 building has a large assembly area within which complete sub sea instrument modules can be integrated and tested. A 125 m3 immersion tank is used as an acoustic and camera test tank. A 800 litre pressure vessel is capable of testing components and sub-assemblies to 600 bar and a sea-water observation tank allows evaluation of systems in a controlled environment.

Environmental and vibration test rigs provide comprehen-sive testing of systems. A notable recent success of Ocean-lab was the deployment and recovery of free-fall platforms to over 10.000 m depth, and capturing moving images of the world’s deepest fishes.

Right from the early days of ESONET CA Oceanlab has been actively involved in designing and developing deep sea observatories. Its latest foray is a joint venture with BP, MBARI, NOC, Glasgow University and Texas A&M Uni-versity to develop a Deep-Ocean Environmental Long-term Observatory System DELOS.

Oceanlab

Oceanlab II is currently under constructionand will be commissioned in May 2009.

DEEP-OCEAN ENVIRONMENTAL LONG-TERM OBSERVATORY SYSTEM

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The aim of the DELOS project is to increase our understand-ing of the deep water areas that BP are gradually extending into, and provide long term environmental monitoring to enhance deep sea scientific research.

Two platforms are to be deployed, one within 50 metres of a sea floor well, and a second 5 miles from any sea floor infrastructure. These platforms will be situated off

West Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 1400m. The platforms will be deployed for 25 years and serviced every 6 months by ROV. The long term monitoring by the DELOS platforms will allow scientist to:

Determine long term natural environmental conditions at the deepwater site

• Comparison with any changes observed at near field monitoring sites• Increase understanding of mechanisms linking climate

DescriptonThe DELOS system comprises two environmental monitor-ing platforms: - one in the far field (5 miles form sea floor infrastructure); and one in the near field (within 50metres of a sea floor well). Each platform comprises two parts: - the sea floor docking station that is deployed on the sea floor at the start of the monitoring program and remains for the 25 year project duration; and a number of observatory modules that are designed to perform specific environmental moni-toring functions. One of each observatory module will be available to each platform. Once deployed each observa-tory module will have enough battery and storage capacity for autonomous operation for at least 6 months. Towards the end of the 6 month deployment period each platform will require ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) intervention to recover observatory modules to the surface for service, calibration and data offload. During this service period no monitoring will be possible at the sea floor however, long periods of monitoring will be possible (months), interrupted by short service periods (days). The scientific steering com-mittee concluded that this interruption to continuous moni-toring would not significantly compromise the overall sci-entific objectives.

Sea Floor Docking StationThe sea floor docking station is designed to be deployed at the start of the program and left on the sea floor for the 25 year project duration. It consists of a robust triangular glass fibre construction designed to withstand long term sea floor deployment and periodic service by ROV. Glass fibre re-inforced plastic is used to eliminate any corrosion effects which may affect sea floor biological processes. A major research project was conducted to determine the long term effects of deep water immersion of composite materials and the final design encompasses this research.

To minimise disturbance to sea floor animals from sea cur-rent eddying effects due to the sea floor structure the dock-ing station is raised off the sea floor on legs. This design enables the observatory modules to sample both the water column above the docking station as well as sea floor pro-cesses below it.

Using the Oceanlab concept, 2HOffshore Ltd. designed the DELOS framework and Excel composites Ltd. manufac-tured the frame and modules. Oceanlab also designed and installed the instrumentation for each module.

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change to deep water ecology• Measure and monitor deep-sea biological communities• Understand the pace of recovery from any unforeseen impacts• Differentiate between natural & man made changes providing a linkage between marine biodiversity & cli-mate change

Determine long term effects of monitoring platform itself on natural processes

• Understanding on reef effect of large fixed structures in deep water environment• Contributing to understanding of potential effects of sub-sea equipment in general

Contribute to individual & institutional capacity development in Angola

• Working with Angolan Scientists in international collaboration

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DELOS Project

DELOS platform at Oceanlab for the DELOS Open Day.

get strength to ranges of up to 150m from the DELOS plat-form. In conjunction with the passive acoustic module, that records (amongst other things) background noise level, fish reaction to acoustic disturbance events could be monitored.

Sediment Trap Module(Far field plataforms only)This input of material is the major source of energy for the deep-sea community. A sediment trap collecting and peri-odically storing this fallout enables the composition and quantity of this energy input to be measured. To represent

an unbiased record of phytodetrial fallout the sediment trap must be a minimum of 100m above the sea floor. To achieve this, a winch unwinds a vertical tether that allows the trap to float at the required height above the observatory. Prior to recovery the winch retrieves the sediment trap back into its module on the frame.

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Wide view cameraThe wide view camera takes time-lapse photographs of a large area of the sea floor. These observations enable a visu-alisation of seasonal sea floor sedimentation processes, pass-ing animals and disturbance events over a large 20m2 area. This scale of observation is essential to categorise any pat-terns of long-term change in the benthic environment over the 25yr life span of the project. This imaging set up has been used to excellent effect in the deep Pacific Ocean, by Prof Ken Smith of Scripps, USA, and is proven technology. The synergy between the close view camera and the wide view camera will allow us to assess large scale and long-term patterns of diversity and community change with ac-curate identification of anticipated new and novel species.

Oceanographic Module (Near & Far field plataforms)

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Camera Module (Near & Far field plataforms)The camera modules contain two camera systems, a close view and wide view camera system.

Close view cameraThe close view camera takes time-lapse close up photo-graphs of the sea floor and associated fauna. In a relatively unstudied area, such as the Angolan continental slope, it is vital that we obtain good quality high-resolution images of the indigenous fauna. The close view stills camera will give us the flexibility required to correctly identify both inverte-brates and fishes. We anticipate that these high-quality im-ages will also have considerable public outreach potential as has been highlighted by the ROV images (taken with an identical camera) used as part of the SERPENT project.

A suite of oceanographic instruments is essential for any long term monitoring station. They provide background measurements to fully characterise the environment for all other observation modules in the docking station.

Each oceanographic module will house -300kHz Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler (current pro-files of water column above DELOS);-Transmissometer (Wet labs C Star). Measures the total particle load in the water column (this includes organic matter/ sand/ sediment/ etc);-Fluorometer (Chlorophyll a). Measures the organic mat-ter content of the particle load identified by the transmis-someter ie the “fresh” material or “food” arriving on the sea floor;-Local seabed current meter (sea currents close to the sea floor)-Conductivity, Temperature, and Pressure sensors-Oxygen sensor (measure dissolved oxygen levels avail-able to the local sea floor community);

Acoustic Module(Near & Far field plataforms)Passive and active acoustics. A passive bioacoustic sensor will monitor the natural sounds generated by animals within its detection range, as well as the background noise level. This system will allow passing vocalising cetaceans to be identified (from characteristic sound spectra) and counted. High frequency active sonar systems enable fish movements to be observed at a lower resolution but at much greater range than photographic systems. This module contains an active sonar system to record movements of fish with suitable tar-

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Instrument Modules

Examples of high quality close view camera photographs Oceanographic module Acoustic module

An example of a time lapse wide view camera tracking a deep sea ho-lothurians’ movements across the sea floor.

Phytodetritus from plankton in the surface layers falls to the sea floor in seasonal pulses.

Sediment Trap being tested using ocean lab test facilities

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These data along with Transmissometer and Flourometer data will build up a comprehensive picture of food input into the deep ocean site.

Guest Modules (2 guest modules in the near field plataform, 1 in the far field plataform)Guest modules will initially be left empty and will be avail-able for use in the future. Currently we have applications from both the science community and BP to use some of these modules for new research.

ScienceThe deep-sea environment into which BP operations are gradually extending is generally poorly understood with sur-veys regularly discovering new habitats and communities of animals previously unknown to science. There is inevitably a lack of historical data which can be used as basis for base-line knowledge and prediction. It is however apparent that all deep-sea environments support a wide range of animals that contribute significantly to global biodiversity.

By establishing long term monitoring of the deep sea physi-cal environment and biological activity in that environment it should be possible to compensate to a large degree for previous lack of knowledge. Hitherto only two deep-sea sites in the world’s oceans have been the subject of long-term studies exceeding 5 years, Station M in the NE Pacific Ocean (Smith et al. SCRIPPS Institute of Oceanography, University of California) at 4100m depth, studied since 1989 and the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (Bengal) station at 4800m in the NE Atlantic Ocean. At both stations impor-tant annual cycles have been observed with considerable variability from year to year and changes in dominant fauna over decadal time scales. In an oil production area such spontaneous changes need to be distinguished from any an-thropogenic (man made) influences imposed on the deep-sea environment.

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Example of long term phytodetrital input to the deep sea caught in sedi-ment traps showing a seasonal cycle.

DELOS battery packs ready for shipment.

DELOS Frame ready for shipment

Cabled KM3NeT ObservatoriesOceanlab are leading the KM3NeT Earth-Sea Science in-frastructure node. The aim of the KM3NeT project is to de-sign, construct and operate a large deep sea research infra-structure in the Mediterranean Sea hosting a cubic kilometre scale neutrino telescope and facilities for associated marine and earth sciences.

The KM3NeT deep sea infrastructure will serve as a plat-form for a wide spectrum of marine and geological scientific research. For these “associated science” projects the perma-nent connection to the shore for powering and acquiring real time continuous sensor data is of great value. Such perma-nent connections from the deep sea to the shore are rare. The neutrino telescope pilot projects, which already feature extensive programmes in oceanography, biology, and geol-ogy are part of the ESONET/EMSO programme and are all cabled observatories.

The Earth-Sea Science node ConceptThe underwater architecture for the KM3NeT network will consist of a subsea cable connecting the observatory to the shore station and a series of nodes and branches connected

to the cable via junction boxes as shown in the conceptual diagram below.Each junction is capable of supporting a series of instru-ments and modules via wet mateable connectors. The power

and data links between the shore station and the primary junction boxes is via optical fibre. The links between the pri-mary junction box and the secondary junction boxes are en-visaged as either optical or copper Ethernet cable and those between the secondary junction boxes and the instruments are either by copper Ethernet cable or an asynchronous se-rial link such as RS422, RS485 or RS232. This choice is open and corresponds to most of the modular designs expe-rienced in oceanography. The voltage currently envisaged for the network is up to 10kV DC to the primary junction box. Power converters are then used to supply 400V DC to the secondary junction boxes. The bandwidth required by the Earth-Sea science infrastructure will be driven by the

image and acoustic data. In the case of high definition video this will consist of data streamed at a rate of approximately 25 Mb/s.

The Earth-Sea science infra structure will be continually evolving and is to be designed in a flexible manner so that adding components can be achieved in a simple and cost effective manner. This infrastructure will comprise several instrument types such as seismometers, pressure sensors, fluorescence detectors, CO2 and O2 sensors, conductivity, current and temperature meters. Acoustic modules, still and video cameras are also foreseen. Additional sensor data pro-vided by the Neutrino array for calibration and position pur-poses will be made available to the science community.

A safety distance between the neutrino array and the asso-ciated science nodes has to be defined and agreed between the astrophysics and the science communities. The position of an associated science node relative to the array, shown in the diagram below, will need to take into account this safety distance and the optimum position for the best sci-entific results.

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EsoNews is a publication from ESONET Network of ExcellenceExecutive Editor: J. M. Miranda Design and desktop publishing: Capitão POP - Agência de Publicidade, lda.Printed at Tipografia Jerónimus, lda. • Print run: 1000ESONET Office • IFREMER Centre de Brest, BP 70 29280 Plouzané, FRANCE • Tel: + 332 98 22 40 96 - Fax: + 332 98 22 46 50email: esonet-coordinator@ifremer.fr - URL: http://www.esonet-emso.orgTo receive the ESONEWS letter by Email, send an Email to sympa@ifremer.fr, with <SUBscribe esonews> in the subject, if you are not already registered

KM3NeT OperationsA joint operations management of the marine science infra-structure and the neutrino telescope will be set up. This body will be responsible for coordinating deployment, mainte-nance and emergency situations. It will also coordinate data sharing between the neutrino telescope and the associated sciences projects. In addition the neutrino telescope and the Earth-Sea sciences infrastructure will each have their indi-vidual management structure to deal with “local issues”.

Three categories of observatory operation are recognised: • Operational and Civil Protection o Earthquakes o Tsunamis o Oceanography GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System) contribution • Ocean & Geosciences Research • Engineering Trials.

Due to the different operational requirements in terms of availability and reliability, the Earth-Sea science user com-munity will have a co-ordinating body which could be managed according to the standards and procedures estab-lished in ESONET NoE such as the concept of Regional Legal Entity. This body would ensure efficient integration between the KM3NeT Earth-Sea science communities, en-vironmental agencies and organisations at the national, re-gional and international level including ESONET, EMSO, GOOS and Kopernikus thus maximising dissemination and use of data.

The observatory is to be service on a six or twelve monthly basis during its life time. This will enable instruments to be replaced or upgraded, new instruments to be added and new branches to be created.

The KM3NeT consortium released the conceptual design report (CDR) in April 2008 and is now preparing the techni-cal design report (TDR).

These three websites contain further details of these projects:www.delos-project.orgwww.oceanlab.abdn.ac.ukwww.km3net.org

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The Early YearsThe European experience on seafloor monitoring started in early 1990s with the EC MAST Programme. Feasibility studies commis-sioned by EC were addressed to identifying the scientific require-ments (Thiel et al., 1994) and to establishing the possible tech-nological solutions for the development of seafloor observatories (Berta et al., 1995). In parallel, other studies and activities, such as DESIBEL (Rigaud et al., 1998), were carried out at EC level, aimed at defining needs and expectations for long-term investiga-tions at abyssal depths. Meanwhile, USA, Canada and Japan, the most technologically advanced countries, have launched a large number of projects and programmes addressed to long-term and multiparameter seafloor monitoring (Favali and Beranzoli, 2006; Frugoni et al., 2006).Since 1995, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) ran a scientific and technological program for the development of deep-sea observation systems for geophysics, oceanography and environmental sciences. This programme, called GEOSTAR (GEophysical and Oceanographic STation for Abyssal Research), was initially funded by the European Commission (EC) within the 4th and 5th Framework Programme, through the GEOSTAR (1995-1998) and GEOSTAR 2 (1999-2001) (Jourdain, 1999; Be-ranzoli et al., 2000; 2003; Beranzoli, Favali and Smriglio, 2002; Favali et al., 2002; 2006b).Two paths were followed after the GEOSTAR experience: the de-velopment of other single-frame observatories devoted to specific applications and the enhancement of GEOSTAR as principal node of a network of seafloor observatories. These paths have led to the availability of other five GEOSTAR-class observatories and to the first European prototype of a deep seafloor observatory network.SN1 (Submarine Network 1) is addressed to seismological, ocean-ographic and environmental measurements, and was initially de-veloped between 2000 and 2002 within an Italian project. In 2005 it has become part of the cabled underwater infrastructure off Eastern Sicily (NEMO-SN1) (Favali et al., 2006a). GMM (Gas Monitoring Module), built within the EC ASSEM project (2002-2004) (Blandin et al., 2003), is devoted to seafloor gas monitoring (Marinaro et al., 2004; 2006). Another single-frame system, MA-BEL (now SN2), was developed for polar sea applications within the framework of the Italian PNRA (National Programme for Ant-arctic Research) (Calcara et al., 2001).Within the framework of the EC ORION-GEOSTAR-3 project (2002-2005) (Favali et al., 2006b), GEOSTAR was implemented to act as the main node of an underwater network of deep-sea obser-vatories of GEOSTAR-class with the capability of (near)-real-time

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The Newsletter of the EuropeanSea Observatory Network

Volume 2 Issue 3

GEOSTARTechnologyPAOLO FAVALI and LAURA BERANZOLI

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“Dear Colleagues

We wish you an Happy New Year and all the best for 2009!

As you know a new ESONET year will also start soon. Indeed, we are ending the second year with the preparation of the yearly reporting and a re-porting workshop will be held near Paris the 26 Jan09. After good results of 2008 : selection of 4 demonstration missions, working groups consti-tution, and the organization of 3 main ESONET Workshops and of the General Assembly meet-ing, we can tell that a a first important step to-ward ESONET integration has been really done. We greatly thank all the ESONET community for the efforts made.Our wish for 2009 is of course to make a second important step toward integration with a specific highlight to the sustainability of this integration. In-deed, the third year of ESONET, starting from the 1st of March 2009, aims at preparing a permanent ESONET organization with the Virtual Institute VISO to be defined and discussed, the definition of the ESONETLabel (definition of rules and proce-dures to define an ESONET Regional Observato-ry) and the launching of ESONET legal integration bodies jointly with EMSO PP. During the second All Regions workshop in Oct 2009 the regional observatory networks around Europe will be bet-ter defined, a complete business plan and the first result of demonstration missions will be presented. The ESONET Label will be delivered for the Eso-net Nodes to the groups issued from the regional implementation committees which will build up the corresponding ESONET RLEs with EMSO PP. We wish the needed synergy will be present.”

Roland Person and Ingrid Puillat

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communication. In addition to this main node, two more observa-tories, with the function of satellite nodes (SN3 and SN4), were built and equipped with geophysical and oceanographic sensors.

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GEOSTAR system is designed as a stand-alone autonomous seafloor observatory, based on three main sub-systems (Beran-zoli et al., 1998): a) the Bottom Station (BS), which is the frame equipped with sensors, power and communication systems; b) the Communication Systems (CS), hosted by BS; c) MODUS (MO-bile Docker for Underwater Sciences), which was specifically de-

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Platform Overall dimensions (m) (L x W x H)

Weight (kN) (in air)

Weight (kN) (in water)

Depth rated (m)

GEOSTAR 3.50 x 3.50 x 3.30 25-04-09 14-02-09 4000SN1 2.90 x 2.90 x 2.90 14.0 08-05-09 4000SN2 (MABEL) 2.90 x 2.90 x 2.90 14.0 08-05-09 4000SN3 2.90 x 2.90 x 2.90 14.0 08-05-09 4000SN4 2.00 x 2.00 x 2.00 06-06-09 03-04-09 1000GMM 1.50 x 1.50 x 1.50 01-05-09 0.7 1000

Communications

Two independent Communication Systems (CS) were originally developed for GEOSTAR, based on different principles (Marval-di et al., 2002). The first one consists of buoyant data capsules, named Messengers (MES), releasable upon surface command or automatically, when filled of data or in case of emergency. Two types of MES are available: a) expendable (data storage capac-ity 64 Kbytes); b) storage (data storage capacity larger than the expandable, 40 Mbytes). The capsules can transmit via ARGOS satellites their position at sea surface and small quantities of data. The second CS is based on a bi-directional vertical acoustic link with a ship of opportunity or moored buoy. A surface relay buoy,

The parallel running of the EC ORION-GEOSTAR-3 and AS-SEM projects has given us the chance to integrate one of the ORION nodes (SN4) in the shallow water ASSEM system during the pilot experiment in Corinth Gulf. This integration was to demonstrate the com-patibility of the two seafloor networks and the chance to operate a “coast-to-deep-sea”

The Geostar System

Figure 1 – GEOSTAR system: Bottom Station (bottom), MODUS (top)

Bottom Station

MODUS

equipped with a telemetry unit and radio/satellite transmitters, as-sures the (near)-real-time communication between a shore station and the observatory on the seafloor.The most recent communication link implemented on the GEO-STAR-class observatories was through the cabling: a proper in-terface between platforms and electro-optical cables was imple-mented on the SN1 observatory. This determined the realisation of the first real-time seafloor observatory in Europe, NEMO-SN1 off Eastern Sicily (Favali et al., 2006a). This area was identified as one of the key-sites for the nodes foreseen in the EC projects ESONET-CA (Priede et al., 2005) and ESONET-NoE (http://www.esonet-emso.org/esonet-noe/) and in the EC-FP7 Research Infrastructure Project EMSO (Favali and Beranzoli, 2008).

Adriatic demonstration mission

In 1998 the first demonstration mission was carried out and GEO-STAR observatory was firstly deployed in Adriatic Sea, 40 km East of Ravenna (Italy), at a depth of 42 m (Jourdain, 1999; Be-ranzoli et al., 2000). During the 3-week mission the acquisition system recorded 440 continuous hours (97.8% of the total time). The analysis of the data demonstrated the complete reliability of the whole system, including MODUS functionality, and in par-ticular demonstrated the scientific potentiality of unique time-ref-erenced multiparameter data (Beranzoli et al., 2003).

GEOSTAR-2 deep-sea mission

The first GEOSTAR long-term deep-sea mission was performed between September 2000 and April 2001 at about 2000 m w.d. in Southern Tyr-rhenian Sea (Favali et al., 2006b). The communication system was enhanced with the support of a surface moored buoy, equipped with the interface of the acoustic system and a radio/satel-lite link for (near)-real-time transmis-sion between the Bottom Station and on-shore sites. Data acquired, 4160 hours corresponding to about 174 days, amount to more than 65 Mbytes. Also in this long-term experiment, the data quality was high, as demonstrated by De Santis et al. (2006; 2007), Iafolla et al. (2006), and Etiope et al. (2006) that pointed out ocean-lithosphere in-teractions at Benthic Boundary Level (BBL).

Geostar-Class Observatories And Experiments

Figure 2 – Layout of the NEMO-SN1 underwater infrastructure in Sicily

monitoring system in the near future. The information on the size, weights and depth rates for all the developed observatories is shown in the following table.

signed to handle the BS from the sea surface during the deploy-ment/ recovery operations, and operates like a simplified ROV. GEOSTAR is capable of long-term (more than one year) multidis-ciplinary monitoring at abyssal depths. At present, the maximum operative depth is 4,000 m.

Bottom Station

The Bottom Station (BS), a four-leg marine aluminium frame (Fig. 1, bottom), hosts a wide range of sensors, able to collect multidisciplinary data on the same spot. It also contains the bat-tery pack (primary lithium), electronics mounted inside titanium vessels, hard disks for data storage and the underwater part of the communication systems. The BS mission is driven and controlled by a central Data Acquisition and Control System unit (DACS) to allow the management of a complete scientific mission with a wide set of data streams and tagging each measurement according to a unique reference time provided by a central high-precision clock (stability 10-9 ÷ 10-11) (Gasparoni et al., 2002).

MODUS

Accurate and safe positioning at seafloor, re-entry and recovery capabilities of the BS are ensured by the dedicated cable sus-pended module MODUS (Fig. 1, top), developed and built at the Technische Universität Berlin (TUB), and the Technische Fach-Hochschule (TFH) Berlin (Clauss and Hoog, 2002). MODUS is a sub-sea intervention shuttle operating in deep seas while it is connected to a surface vessel with an umbilical, which provides power, bi-directional data-transfer via F/O telemetry and carries the load induced by the system during operation. MODUS was conceived to be driven by a ship-board operator and initially could be moved only horizontally by means of two thrust-ers as needed during the BS recovery. For deep-sea missions the MODUS was enhanced with the inclusion of four more thrusters to power the horizontal (two additional thrusters) and the vertical (two thrusters) movements, one transponder and one altimeter to check MODUS location at depth from the sea surface, and sonar to identify the BS location during the recovery. The MODUS frame is also equipped with video cameras for visual seabed inspection. This system is able to carry up to 30 kN at abyssal depths.

SN1 Observatory

SN1 was the first observatory based on the GEOSTAR technol-ogy. Initially, it was funded by Italian agencies during the period 2000-2004. Mainly addressed to seismology and oceanography, it was designed as a reduced-size version of GEOSTAR, using the same features of GEOSTAR in regard to deployment/recovery procedures, the data acquisition system and the special device for seismometer installation developed in the GEOSTAR projects.From October 2002 to May 2003 SN1 successfully completed the first long-term experiment off-shore Catania (Southern Italy, Eastern Sicily) at 2105-m depth in autonomous mode without any permanent acoustic or physical connection with the sea surface. SN1 was equipped with a vertical acoustic link to allow the re-mote request of the observatory data from a ship of opportunity and the retrieval of segments of acquired time series. During this

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experiment SN1 recorded about 15 Gbytes of data, mainly seis-mic. Monna et al. (2005) demonstrated the high quality of the ac-quired data, definitively validating the procedure to deploy seis-mometer, de-coupling its housing from the frame coupling the instrument with the seabed. The seismic events recorded only by SN1 opened new insights on the knowledge of the Ionian Basin seismicity (Sgroi et al., 2007).After this experiment, SN1 was fitted with a fibre-optic telem-etry interface so as to be compatible with the electro-optical cable owned and deployed off-shore from Catania by INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare) and related with particle physics experiments. In January 2005, the observatory was deployed by MODUS in the same site of the first mission (about 25 km East of Catania at 2060 m w.d.) and connected to the submarine cable thus becoming part of the underwater infrastructure NEMO-SN1 (Fig. 2). These activities were performed under an agreement be-tween two major Italian scientific institutions, INGV and INFN (Favali et al., 2006a).SN1 (Fig. 3) receives power from the shore, can communicate in real-time with the shore station inside Catania harbour, and is integrated in the INGV land based networks. SN1 is the first real-time seafloor observatory in Europe and one of the few in the

Figure 3 – GEOSTAR-class observatories: SN1, off-shore Eastern Sicily, ROV connects SN1 to the cable (January 2005); SN2, Weddell Sea (Antarctica) recovery on board R/V Polar-stern (December 2008); SN3, Tyrrhenian Sea, recovery on board R/V Urania (May 2005); SN4, on the seafloor of Corinth Gulf /April 2004); GMM, Patras Gulf, before deployment (April 2004).

world. It is also the first operative seafloor observa-tory in one of the «key-sites» planned in ESONET and EMSO.At the end of April 2008, SN1 has been recovered after 3 years and 3 months. The observatory will be refurbished, adding sensors and functionalities, particularly taking into account geo-hazards and bio-acoustics. It is planned to be re-deployed and re-connected to the cable in 2009. These activities are performed in the frame of the PEGASO project (2005-2008, funded by “Regione Siciliana”) and the LIDO (LIstening to the Deep Ocean) demonstration mission (2008-2010, funded by ESONET-NoE).

GMM

GMM (Gas Monitoring Module), a light benthic cir-cular tripod of aluminium alloy, was designed for continuous and long-term measurements of gas con-centration (especially methane) in seawater at the benthic boundary layer (Fig. 3).In spring 2004 GMM was deployed within an ac-tive gas-bearing pockmark in the Gulf of Patras (Greece) at a water depth of 42 m. Recordings were carried out in two successive campaigns over the pe-riods April-July 2004, and September 2004-January 2005, amounting to a combined dataset of about 6.5 months. This represents the first long-term monitor-ing ever done on gas leakage from pockmarks by means of CH4+H2S+T+P sensors. The results show frequent T and P drops associated with gas peaks, more than 60 events in 6.5 months, likely due to intermittent, pulsation-like seepage. This seepage “pulsation” can either be an active process driven by pressure build-up in the pockmark sediments, or a passive fluid release due to hydrostatic pressure drops induced by bottom currents cascading into the pockmark depression (Marinaro et al., 2004; 2006).In 2008, in the frame of the PEGASO project GMM has been refurbished to perform an on-going pilot

experiment off-shore Panarea (Aeolian Islands) at 23 m w.d. in the area where a long-term degassing episode occurred in 2002. Data from the seafloor are transmitted in real time through a cable connection with a surface boy and a radio link to the INGV site in Palermo.

ORION-GEOSTAR-3

In the framework of EC ORION-GEOSTAR-3 project, GEO-STAR Bottom Station, the surface relay buoy and MODUS were upgraded in order to be able to manage a network of GEOSTAR-class observatories in a network environment. Two additional ob-servatories were developed (SN3 and SN4, Fig. 3) able to com-municate via acoustics with GEOSTAR BS. To achieve the new required functionality also GEOSTAR DACS has been enhanced. A set of new functionalities were introduced: automatic event de-tection on the seismometer and hydrophone data, transmission of seismometer waveforms (Favali et al., 2006b).The long-term mission of this deep-sea network started in De-cember 2003. The deployment site lies in the Southern Tyrrhe-nian Sea at more than 3300 m w.d. at the NW base of the Marsili

a)

b)

Figure 4 – Seafloor experiments (1998-2008) of the GEOSTAR-class observatories: (a) sites of the experiments and (b) time-line

volcanic seamount, one of the largest seamounts of the Mediter-ranean basin. The network configuration for this mission includes GEOSTAR as main node and one satellite (SN3) in horizontal acoustic communication with GEOSTAR deployed 1 km apart. A surface buoy enables the connection with GEOSTAR via verti-cal acoustics and the radio/satellite link with the on-shore station located at the INGV observatory of Gibilmanna (northern coast of Sicily). Due to a malfunctioning in the acoustic communica-tion link with the nodes (underwater part), they were recovered at the end of April 2004 and re-deployed at the same site at the middle of June until the final recovery in May 2005, always us-ing the R/V Urania of CNR. One of the ORION node (SN4) was integrate in the ASSEM system. Accordingly, common commu-nication protocols were defined and implemented in the nodes of both networks with respect to the data communication.The magnetic data of this experiment in comparison with the other acquired in previous ones have allowed to study the differ-ent properties of the conductivity of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Basins (De Santis et al., 2007).

MABEL

MABEL (Multidisciplinary Antarctic Benthic Laboratory) is another deep-sea multiparameter seafloor observatory based on GEOSTAR technology (SN2, Fig. 3) addressed to the acquisition of geophysical, geochemical, oceanographic and environmental time series in Polar Regions (Calcara et al., 2001). MABEL is sponsored by the Italian PNRA, is designed to operate autono-mously and is the first seafloor observatory deployed in Antarc-tica. Its mechanical and electronic behaviour at low temperatures was firstly tested in simulated polar conditions (air: −15°C, and icy waters: −2°C). The first Antarctic MABEL experiment started at the end of the 2005 having deployed the observatory in the Weddell Sea at over 1800 m w.d. and it has been recovered mid-dle December 2008, always with the logistic support of the R/V Polarstern, managed by Alfred Wegener Institute.

Cadiz Observatory

The EC NEAREST project (Inte-grated observations from NEAR shorE Sources of Tsunamis: to-wards an early warning system, http://nearest.bo.ismar.cnr.it/), pro-poses to place the sensors directly on the tectonic source to be able to monitoring the movements and to immediately recognise a tsunami. During this project, GEOSTAR was installed in August 2007 south-west of Cape St. Vincent, in the Gulf of Cadiz (Portugal), at over 3200 m w.d. and recovered in August 2008 using R/V Urania. In this experi-ment, GEOSTAR was equipped with geophysical instruments and oceanographic instruments, and with a new “tsunameter”. This tool has been appositely designed to op-erate in areas that generate tsunami waves in order to send automated alert messages. The tsunameter is based on a double check of seismic and pressure signals and keeps into account the seafloor movements. It is planned to continue this experi-ment re-deploying GEOSTAR in the same site in late Spring 2009 using the new Spanish ship Sarm-iento de Gamboa, thanks to the LIDO demonstration mission.The Gulf of Cadiz is a key area defined by ESONET/EMSO as the future location of a permanent deep-sea observatory and NEAR-EST missions are considered a pilot implementation of this node.The experiments (1998-2008) de-scribed above are summarised in Figure 4.

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All the instruments have a unique time reference, given by the use of a single high-precision clock (stability 10-9 ÷ 10-11). From 1998 to 2008, many experiments have been performed using the following sensors, the typical sampling rates are also indicated:

Sensors Typical sampling rates

3-C broad-band seismometer 100 Hz

hydrophone (geophysics) 100 ÷ 200 Hz

hydrophone (bio-acoustics) 96 kHz

gravity meter 0.1 ÷ 1 Hz

scalar magnetometer 1 sample/min

3-C fluxgate magnetometer 1 sample/s

absolute pressure gauge 1 ÷ 15 s

differential pressure gauge 1 ÷ 15 s

precision tilt meter (X, Y) 10 Hz

3-C single-point current me-ter

2 ÷ 20 Hz

ADCP (300 kHz) 1 profile/hour

transmissometer 1 sample/hour

turbidity meter 1 sample/hour

CTD 1 sample/10 min (or /hour)

nuclear spectrometer 1sample/4, 6, 8 hours (stand-alone) 1 sample/30 s (real-time)

CH4 sensor 1 Hz

H2S sensor 1 sample/10 min

O2 sensor 1 sample/10 min (or /hour)

chemical analyser (pH/eH) 1 sample/6 hours

water sampler (off-line) 1 sample/500 s ÷ 1week (48 bottles)

Sensors And Data Examples

The total amount of data has exceeded 300 Gbytes (binary data), equivalent to > 3600 operative days (>10 years). Examples of re-corded data are shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 5 – Examples of acquired data during the 1998-2008 experiments: a) Santa Cruz Island event (2007.09.01, Mw=7.4) recorded by SN1ob-servatory; b) Gulf of Cadiz event (2008.01.11, ML=4.4)recorded by GEOSTAR seismometer in the EC NEAREST experiment; c)temperature, conductivity, pressure and turbidity time series from November 2007 to February2008 recorded by GEOSTAR CTD and turbidity meter during the EC NEAREST experiment; d) Earth spheroidal modes excited by the Central Alaska event (2002.11.03, Mw=7.9)recorded by SN1 grav-ity meter; e) apparent conductivity vs magnetic time-series periods for GEOSTAR-2 (left) and ORION-GEOSTAR-3 (right) experiments in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea inferring lithospheric depth in the area of Ustica Island and of the Marsili volcanic seamount

ConclusionsNRC (2000) outlined the characteristics of a seafloor observatory as a “…unmanned system of instruments, sensors and command modules connected either acoustically or via seafloor junction box to a surface buoy or a cable to land. These observatories will have power and communication capabilities…”. GEOSTAR concept fulfils the definition with its capability of multidisciplinary, long-term monitoring providing time referenced data series, and the possibility to transmit data in (near)-real-time through a surface buoy or through an electro-optical cable.

The Authors wish to thank everyone who worked in the European and Italian projects (A) GEOSTAR (EC), (B) GEOSTAR-2 (EC), (C) ASSEM (EC), (D) ORION-GEOSTAR-3 (EC), (E) NEMO-SN1 (IT), (F) MABEL (IT), (G) NEAREST (EC):Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia-INGV (co-ordi-nator: A, B, D, E, F; partner: C, G) Istituto di Scienze Marine-ISMAR, CNR (co-ordinator: G; part-ner: A, B, D, E)Tecnomare SpA (partner: A, B, D, E, F; sub-contractor: C, G)Technische Universität Berlin-TUB (partner: A, B, D, E, F)Technische FachHochschule-TFH (partner: A, B, D, E, F, G) Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer-IFREMER (co-ordinator: C; partner: A, B, D) Laboratoire de Oceanologie e Biogeochemie–LOB, CNRS (partner: A, B) SERCEL-Underwater Acoustic Division, former ORCA In-strumentation (partner: A, B, D; sub-contractor: C) Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario-IFSI, INAF (partner: E; sub-contractor: B, D, G) Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris-IPGP (partner: B, C ) Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale-INOGS (partner: E, F) Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften an der Universität

Acknowledgementszu Kiel-IFM-GEOMAR (partner: D) Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-INFN (co-ordinator: E [NEMO side]; partner: E [SN1 side]) Hellenic Center for Marine Research-HCMR, Patras Univer-sity, CAPSUM Technologie GmbH, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute-NGI, FUGRO Engineers (partners: C)University of Roma-3, Catania, Messina, Palermo (partners: E)Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lis-boa-Centro de Geofísica da Universidade de Lisboa-FFCUL, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas-Unitat de Tecnologia Marina-CSIC, Alfred-Wegener-Institute für Po-lar-und Meeresforschung-AWI, Université de Bretagne Occi-dentale-UBO, Instituto Andaluz de Geofísica-Universidad de Granada-UGR, Instituto de Meteorologia Divisão de Sismo-logia-IM, Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique-CNRST, XISTOS Développement S.A.-XISTOS (partners: G)

Thanks to: Claudio Viezzoli, Marcantonio Lagalante and Carmine Capua (marine logistics). Special thanks to: Capt.s and the crews of R/V Urania, M/P Mazzarò, C/V Pertinacia, R/V Polarstern and C/V Certamen.

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