A multidisciplinary ocean observatory system for the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean

A consortium of research groups and institutions within the United Kingdom has developed a forward look for a system of multidisciplinary ocean observatories in the North Atlantic and Southern ocean. An engineering study has been completed that has resulted in a design for a mooring and telecommunications/power buoy system that enables continuous, medium-bandwidth, bi-directional telemetry to/from shore, command/control of remote instruments for the scientist's desktop, public involvement and education related to the operation of the observatory system, and generation and transmission of electrical power from the sea surface, through the water column, and to an adaptable junction box on the seafloor. The role of fibre-optic telecommunications cables is considered for some sites, while the use of relocatable buoy-based approaches is considered for others. Several planning efforts within Europe such as B-DEOS, ESONET and others are making these requirements known to funding agencies and it is likely in the next several years that European involvement will emerge in the nascent global, multidisciplinary observatory effort.