SMART submarine cable technology can facilitate acoustics on the global scale

Abstract

The submarine cable industry is beginning to share their infrastructure for ocean observing. Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) Subsea Cables is working to integrate temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration sensors into commercial cables (∼70 km spacing) to support climate monitoring and disaster risk reduction on the global scale. The seismic and pressure sensors are expected to have sensitivity at low acoustic frequencies, (e.g., <50 Hz and <5 Hz, respectively); future systems could include hydrophones and other sensors. Further, telecom rated branching cables supporting multipurpose “nodes” are becoming a reality (per existing dedicated science cable systems). These can support low frequency transceivers and autonomous undersea vehicles (AUVs). With cabled power, these would be part of the fixed/mobile acoustic tomography system measuring ocean heat content and more generally for transporting energy, data, and acquiring multidisciplinary data throughout a large volume of the ocean. A 3700 km SMART ring system in Portugal will be ready in 2026 and one connecting Vanuatu and New Caledonia is starting. Others in planning stages that could include these concepts are: Far North Fiber connecting Norway/Finland/Ireland with Japan, the NSF proposed SMART cable connecting New Zealand with Antarctica, New Zealand-Chatham Islands, and Lisbon-Egypt through the Mediterranean.