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North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments

First stage of NEPTUNE Installation Completed



The world of scientific exploration is nothing short of fantastic and amazing. Each month we are confronted with new discoveries, and reports of scientists pushing the boundaries of human knowledge. NEPTUNE--the North-East Pacific Time-series Undersea Networked Experiments--is another of these amazing attempts to push human knowledge further. And, as of Wednesday the 7th of November, its first phase has been successfully installed.

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NEPTUNE as it is euphemistically entitled (or possibly the name was designed around Neptune--the Greek god of the seas) is the world's largest cable-linked seafloor observatory. But what does that mean and what exactly will NEPTUNE be doing? Why is NEPTUNE being described as a technological advancement? NEPTUNE is the world's first regional cabled ocean discovery program and led by University of Victoria, British Columbia. The 800 km ring of powered fibre optic cable on the ocean floor will provide scientists with unparalleled access to the oceans� various environments. Located over the northern part of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, NEPTUNE consists of the 800 km backbone of fibre optic cable, which will link together five or six seafloor laboratories. These "nodes" will allow scientists real time data, streamed across the network, back to a data center at Port Alberni, Canada, before being transmitted across the world. The five planned nodes are to be located on the inshore at Folger Passage, on the slope site of Ocean Drilling Program 889, at the northern edge of Barkley Canyon, at the mid-plate ODP 1027 site and at the ocean spreading, active venting site along the Endeavour Ridge. These five laboratories will focus on five distinct scientific themes; the structure and seismic behaviour of the ocean crust, seabed chemistry and geology, ocean climate change and its effects on marine life at all depths, the diversity of deep sea ecosystems and engineering and computational research. The five nodes will allow land-base operation, using video cameras, sampling instruments, and even remotely operated vehicles. Their range of exploration ranges from top to bottom, the first time that scientists and researchers have had the opportunity to do so. By completion, more than 200 instruments will be in operation. The cable which has just been successfully laid was supervised by Alcatel-Lucent, the company which, along with its contractors, is installing and supervising much of the NEPTUNE program. "As expected, the installation of the cable was challenging at times, but thanks to the expertise of Alcatel-Lucent, everything went very well," says Dr. Chris Barnes, project director of NEPTUNE Canada. "Alcatel-Lucent has now contracted another cable ship with a remotely operated vehicle to inspect sections of the cable route to ensure proper placement and burial." Upon successful completion of the inspection, the five 6.5 tonne nodes will be deployed at the five locations. The NEPTUNE program is hoping to begin its first live data flow late 2008. Of course, with many of the new scientific programs being developed these days, the internet will play a large role; and not just in distribution of information. Schools, libraries, aquariums and the amateur scientist will all have access to live pictures, video and information via the website. Joshua Hill, a Geek’s-Geek from Melbourne, Australia, Josh is an aspiring author with dreams of publishing his epic fantasy, currently in the works, sometime in the next 5 years. A techie, nerd, sci-fi nut and bookworm.


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Guest Column Joshua Hill -- Bio and Archives

Items of notes and interest from the web.


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