Abstract
The Joint Task Force, Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications (JTF SMART) Subsea Cables, is working to integrate environmental sensors for ocean bottom temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration into submarine telecommunications cables. The purpose of SMART Cables is to support climate and ocean observation, sea level monitoring, observations of Earth structure, and tsunami and earthquake early warning and disaster risk reduction, including hazard quantification. Recent advances include regional SMART pilot systems that are the first steps to trans-ocean and global implementation. Examples of pilots include: InSEA wet demonstration project off Sicily at the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory Western Ionian Facility; New Caledonia and Vanuatu; French Polynesia Natitua South system connecting Tahiti to Tubaui to the south; Indonesia starting with short pilot systems working toward systems for the Sumatra-Java megathrust zone; and the CAM-2 ring system connecting Lisbon, Azores, and Madeira. This paper describes observing system simulations for these and other regions. Funding reflects a blend of government, development bank, philanthropic foundation, and commercial contributions. In addition to notable scientific and societal benefits, the telecommunications enterprise’s mission of global connectivity will benefit directly, as environmental awareness improves both the integrity of individual cable systems as well as the resilience of the overall global communications network. SMART cables support the outcomes of a predicted, safe, and transparent ocean as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the Blue Economy. As a continuation of the OceanObs’19 conference and community white paper (Howe et al., 2019, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00424), an overview of the SMART programme and a description of the status of ongoing projects are given.
Highlights
THE Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunication (SMART) CABLES CONCEPTThe last two decades witnessed an astonishing advancement and confluence of priorities in scientific research, ocean sensor technologies, subsea telecommunication cables, and societal and political needs to meet major environmental threats and hazard mitigation
As discussed in the Introduction, the direct measurements and their derivatives respond directly to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) need for greater attention to Essential Ocean Variables” (EOV) and the UN imperative to contribute to the SDGs and the Decade of Ocean Science
Within the framework of the UN Decade, we will interact with the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) to ensure that the measurements we provide will be assimilated properly into the System
Summary
The last two decades witnessed an astonishing advancement and confluence of priorities in scientific research, ocean sensor technologies, subsea telecommunication cables, and societal and political needs to meet major environmental threats and hazard mitigation. The paper first explains how SMART cables can improve our understanding of myriad geophysical and ocean processes, including global seismology, tsunami modeling, ocean temperature and circulation, sea level rise, tides, and wind waves (Section 2) It details practical aspects of creating such a network: what sensors with what requirements will SMART repeaters use and how will they integrate into subsea telecommunications cable systems (Section 3); and the presently planned and proposed systems (Section 4).
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