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SUMMARYSeismic attenuation is measured from a swarm of 50 earthquakes in Kīlauea volcano in 2018, associated with caldera collapse. The traverse extends at nearly constant azimuth to the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, continuing to Maui beneath the distal flanks of three dormant volcanos. From Maui the traverse then extends seaward to the Aloha Cabled Observatory (ACO) on the seafloor north of O‘ahu. The effective attenuation is measured with respect to an ${\omega ^{ - 2}}$ earthquake source model. Frequency dependent ${Q_P}$ and ${Q_S}$ are derived. The initial path is shallow and uphill, the path to Maui propagates at mid-crustal depths, and the path to ACO extends through oceanic crust. The observations of ${Q_P} \le {Q_S}$ over each traverse are modelled as bulk attenuation ${Q_K}$. Several attenuation processes are observed, including ${Q_\mu }$, ${Q_K}$, $Q\sim f$, constant Q and scattering. The observation of bulk attenuation is ascribed to contrasting physical properties between basalt and water saturated vesicles. The ratio of Q values between shallow and mid-crustal propagation is used to derive an activation energy E* for the undetermined shear attenuation mechanism. A Debye relaxation peak is fit to the ${Q_S}( f )$ and ${Q_K}( f )$ observed for the mid-crustal pathway. A prior high-frequency attenuation study near Wake Island compares well with this Hawaiian Q data set, which in general shows lower values of Q than observed for Wake.

11 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145351.-- Data availability: SmartBay Observatory Video Camera Data (Raw) dataset is available at: http://data.marine.ie/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/ie.marine.data:dataset.3880 (Gaughan et al., 2020), Cabled observatories are marine infrastructures equipped with biogeochemical and oceanographic sensors as well as High-Definition video and audio equipment, hence providing unprecedented opportunities to study marine biotic and abiotic components. Additionally, non-invasive monitoring approaches such as environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding have further enhanced the ability to characterize marine life. Although the use of non-invasive tools beholds great potential for the sustainablemonitoring of biodiversity and declining natural resources, such techniques are rarely used in parallel and understanding their limitations is challenging. Thus, this study combined Underwater Video (UV) with eDNA metabarcoding data to produce marine fish community profiles over a 2 months period in situ at a cabled observatory in the northeast Atlantic (SmartBay Ireland). By combining both approaches, an increased number of fish could be identified to the species level (total of 22 species), including ecologically and economically important species such as Atlantic cod, whiting, mackerel and monkfish, Funding for this research was possible thanks to Marine Institute's National Infrastructure Access Programme (NIAP/18/004). This study was partly developed within the framework of the Tecnoterra (ICM-CSIC/UPC) and the following project RESBIO (TEC2017-87861-R; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades). The EMSO_SmartBay cabled observatory was funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) as part of an SFI Research Infrastructure Award under Grant No. 12/RI/2331, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

Axial Seamount is the most active submarine volcano in the NE Pacific Ocean, and is monitored by instruments connected to a cabled observatory (the US Ocean Observatories Initiative Cabled Array), ...

Special issue 2019 Selected Papers from the IMEKO TC-19 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea.-- 17 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/6/1614/s1, This paper presents the technological developments and the policy contexts for the project “Autonomous Robotic Sea-Floor Infrastructure for Bentho-Pelagic Monitoring” (ARIM). The development is based on the national experience with robotic component technologies that are combined and merged into a new product for autonomous and integrated ecological deep-sea monitoring. Traditional monitoring is often vessel-based and thus resource demanding. It is economically unviable to fulfill the current policy for ecosystem monitoring with traditional approaches. Thus, this project developed platforms for bentho-pelagic monitoring using an arrangement of crawler and stationary platforms at the Lofoten-Vesterålen (LoVe) observatory network (Norway). Visual and acoustic imaging along with standard oceanographic sensors have been combined to support advanced and continuous spatial-temporal monitoring near cold water coral mounds. Just as important is the automatic processing techniques under development that have been implemented to allow species (or categories of species) quantification (i.e., tracking and classification). At the same time, real-time outboard processed three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning has been implemented to increase mission autonomy capability, delivering quantifiable information on habitat features (i.e., for seascape approaches). The first version of platform autonomy has already been tested under controlled conditions with a tethered crawler exploring the vicinity of a cabled stationary instrumented garage. Our vision is that elimination of the tether in combination with inductive battery recharge trough fuel cell technology will facilitate self-sustained long-term autonomous operations over large areas, serving not only the needs of science, but also sub-sea industries like subsea oil and gas, and mining, This project is funded by The Norwegian Research Council, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany (03SX464C) and the HGF-project MOSES, Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (EXP 00108707/SERA-20181020), and co-funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the framework of ERA-NET Cofund MarTERA (Maritime and Marine Technologies for a new Era), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

15 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables, The study of the effects of climate change on the marine environment requires the existence of sufficiently long time series of key parameters. The study of these series allows both to characterize the range of variability in each particular region and to detect trends or changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic causes. For this reason, networks of permanent cabled observation systems are being deployed in the ocean. This paper presents a balance of a decade of activity at the OBSEA cabled observatory, as an example of ocean monitoring success and drawbacks. It is not the objective of this article to analyze the scientific and technical aspects already presented by the authors in different publications (Table 4). We will evaluate the overall experience by retracing the different steps of infrastructure deployment and maintenance, focusing on routines for in situ control, damages experienced, breakdowns and administrative constraints by local administrations. We will conclude by providing a set of guidelines to improve cabled observatories scientific outreach, societal projection, and economic efficiency. As a result of this work, a 10-years dataset has been published in Pangaea that is available for the community, This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) with the project Redes de sensores submarinosautónomos y cableados aplicados a la monitorización remota de indicadores biológicos under Grant TEC2017-87861-R, and part by Generalitat de Catalunya with the Project Sistemas de Adquisición Remota de datos y Tratamiento de la Información en el Medio Marino (SARTI-MAR) under Grant 2017 SGR 371, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

As part of a recent Japanese governmental project, the government has planned and begun a program to develop a seafloor cabled observatory that facilitates the long-term monitoring of hydrothermal vents and the ecological changes surrounding them. Because commercial cables are typically laid to avoid rough terrain and hydrothermal fields, there is no established method to assess system damage risk for a cabled observatory installed on a hydrothermal field. In this article, we propose a probabilistic cable damage risk assessment method for a seafloor cabled observatory installed on a hydrothermal field. The core concept of our method is the use of probability functions to estimate the system damage risk for the system of a seafloor cabled observatory laid on a defined route. The considered damage factors are potential heat damage risks to the cabled system and damage risks caused by frequent contact between the cable and seafloor. The product of each risk probability represents the total survivability of the system on the route. The proposed method was applied to the Oomuro-hole hydrothermal field on the active submarine Oomuro-dashi volcano, where remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys have been performed. The discovered risk factors are organized into a geographic database, and risk value fields are generated. We planned and evaluated several candidate routes that connect a target site for observation to the cabled system terminal unit. Finally, the proposed method derives quantitative system survivability values for the candidate routes and facilitates planning of the layout for a seafloor cabled observatory installed on a hydrothermal field.

Thanks to a fruitful collaboration between Ifremer (Institut francais pour l’exploitation de la mer), Geoazur and CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), a subsea cabled observatory has been operating offshore Nice (France) since 2015. It is intended to collect measurements of several instruments (seismometer and piezometers) in an area recognized as a natural laboratory for the study of the underlying mechanisms of submarine slope failures. The observatory is made up of two subsea stations, connected to a shore station by an electro-optical cable. All the components of the infrastructure and instruments can be remotely accessed through the internet. The measurements of the instruments are automatically transmitted to data centers. They can be visualized and downloaded on web portals.

A reduction in commercial shipping was reported during the first half of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this analysis is to determine if this impact on shipping resulted in a corresponding reduction in low-frequency ambient noise levels off the coast of Monterey Bay, California. Data presented here was collected on a Naval Postgraduate School directional acoustic sensor deployed on the Monterey Accelerated Research System’s cabled observatory, managed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. The directional acoustic sensor was developed by GeoSpectrum Technologies, Inc for integration onto the observatory system, and was initially installed in February, 2019. Since then, the data has been continuously streaming to a server at the Naval Postgraduate School for subsequent processing. In this work, long time-series analysis is performed to compare year-to-year statistics of month-long data sets through the end of January, 2021. Spectral probability densities are computed for each month over the 1/3 octave band for both amplitude and direction. Annual variations of the 50th percentile statistics are evaluated to determine if the shipping reduction due to COVID-19 is a distinguishable feature in the data.

Turbidity currents are one of the main sediment transport processes on Earth, yet are notoriously difficult to monitor directly. This article presents the first direct and high bandwidth observation of a turbidity current using a cabled sea floor observatory. On 5 June 2012, a platform on Ocean Networks Canada, located in 107 m of water on the Fraser River delta slope, was displaced downslope and severed from its data cable. The platform weighed ca 1000 kg in water. The event took place during high river discharge, high tides and rapid sediment accumulation on adjacent upslope areas of the sea floor. Data recorded as it tumbled downslope allow a reconstruction of the flow, which is inferred to have been an unconfined turbidity current. Lines of evidence indicate that the flow came in as a bed hugging wedge, and built up to between 1 m and 4 m in height as the head passed through. Comparison with laboratory data suggest that the flow was initially supercritical. While the adjacent slope offset to the north clearly exhibits change over an annual resurvey period, the bathymetry directly at the event location show no resolvable change over a period from seven months before the event to one month after. Sediment cores collected after the event were pervasively biototurbated and they contain no obvious deposit connected with this event. The remarkable aspects of this research follow. The flow was powerful enough to carry a 1 tonne platform and sever a heavily armoured cable. The current occurred on the unchannelized open slope. This powerful event failed to cause discernible seabed elevation change. The flow was triggered by tidal conditions. The event was detected by a purpose-designed cabled observatory, thus providing high bandwidth data and also alerting researchers in real time to mount follow-on investigations.

Natural methane gas release from the seafloor is a widespread phenomenon that occurs at cold seeps along most continental margins. Since their discovery in the early 1980s, seeps have been the focu...

This paper describes the design, construction and preliminary test results for a gas-tight serial sampler intended to be deployed at seafloor for long-term operation to take time-series fluid samples from deep-sea environments such as cold seeps, water column and hydrothermal vents. The serial sampler is a modular system that is based on independent and identical sampling modules, which are designed to collect six 160 ml gas-tight fluid samples maintained at high pressure to a depth of 4000 meters. With two working modes, the sampler can be deployed either with seafloor cabled observatory for remote control or as a stand-alone device for autonomous operation. A prototype of the instrument has been constructed and tested on the MARS cabled observatory for two months. The laboratory and field tests proved the success of the design and construction of the serial sampler, and indicated the potential for future ocean sciences.

Studies reporting processes that may shape marine benthic communities under the seasonal scale are rare at depths > 50 m. In this study, the use of the VENUS multidisciplinary cabled observatory provided 2-month high-resolution data combining quantitative biology and environmental data in Saanich Inlet, a seasonally hypoxic fjord located on Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada). An ecological module equipped with a camera acquired a 3 min video clip every half hour during 2 months at 97 m depth in the oxygen fluctuation zone of the fjord. Results highlighted the role of the tidal cycle on species activity rhythms and confirmed the influence of oxygen fluctuations on benthic assemblage structure and species behaviour. However, environmental variables considered only explained a small proportion of the total variance in species data. This study demonstrates how seafloor observatories can be used to study species behaviour and community dynamics in relation to abiotic conditions by providing continuous access to multidisciplinary data., Les études sur les processus qui influencent la structure des communautés marines benthiques profondes (>50 m) à des échelles inférieures aux saisons sont rares. Dans cet article, l’utilisation de l’observatoire multidisciplinaire câblé VENUS a fourni 2 mois de données haute fréquence combinant des données quantitatives biologiques et environnementales dans le Saanich Inlet, un fjord hypoxique saisonnier localisé sur l’île de Vancouver (Colombie-Britannique, Canada). Un module écologique a enregistré des séquences vidéo de 3 min toutes les demi-heures pendant 2 mois à 97 m de profondeur dans la zone de fluctuation d’oxygène. Les résultats ont permis de mettre en évidence le rôle des cycles de marées sur l’activité rythmique des espèces et ont confirmé le rôle des variations temporelles des concentrations en oxygène sur la structure des assemblages faunistiques et le comportement des espèces benthiques. Cependant, les variables environnementales considérées expliquent une faible proportion de la variance. Cette étude démontre comment les observatoires sous-marins permettent d’étudier le comportement des espèces et la dynamique des communautés benthiques en relation avec les facteurs abiotiques, en fournissant un accès continu à des données multidisciplinaires.

A major (M w 7.7) earthquake occurred on October 28, 2012 along the Queen Charlotte Fault Zone off the west coast of Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). The earthquake was the second strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake in Canadian history and generated the largest local tsunami ever recorded on the coast of British Columbia. A field survey on the Pacific side of Haida Gwaii revealed maximum runup heights of up to 7.6 m at sites sheltered from storm waves and 13 m in a small inlet that is less sheltered from storms (Leonard and Bednarski 2014). The tsunami was recorded by tide gauges along the coast of British Columbia, by open-ocean bottom pressure sensors of the NEPTUNE facility at Ocean Networks Canada’s cabled observatory located seaward of southwestern Vancouver Island, and by several DART stations located in the northeast Pacific. The tsunami observations, in combination with rigorous numerical modeling, enabled us to determine the physical properties of this event and to correct the location of the tsunami source with respect to the initial geophysical estimates. The initial model results were used to specify sites of particular interest for post-tsunami field surveys on the coast of Moresby Island (Haida Gwaii), while field survey observations (Leonard and Bednarski 2014) were used, in turn, to verify the numerical simulations based on the corrected source region.

Over the past decade, the field of oceanography has experienced a robotic revolution. A proliferation of autonomous surface and underwater platforms is providing new ways to obtain environmental, chemical, and biological data. Bioacoustical oceanographic sensors are increasingly being added to the payload of these platforms to provide increased spatial and temporal coverage as well as access to unexplored areas. Integrating relatively large, high power draw sensors like scientific echosounders is a challenge, however, and each platform type and size have specific tradeoffs with respect to these payloads. I will present case studies employing echsounders from autonomous surface vessels to study the deep scattering layer, a deep-diving, short endurance autonomous underwater vehicle for examining bathypelagic squid, and a moderate endurance underwater glider for examining the relationship between forage species and their environment. These studies illustrate the challenges of integration of echsosounder payloads into platforms as well as the opportunities of robotic approaches for bioacoustical oceanography. Finally, a recent experiment integrating nine robotic platforms and a cabled observatory will highlight how the integration of various sensor technologies and platforms can be used to study dynamic biological processes like diel vertical migration in the ocean.

The Simple Cabled Instrument for Measuring Parameters in-situ (SCIMPI) is a new borehole observatory instrument designed to study dynamic processes below the seafloor. SCIMPI performs time series measurements of temperature, pressure and electrical resistivity at a series of depths, tailored for site-specific scientific objectives. SCIMPI's modular design enables tailoring of the type, depth distribution, and frequency of measurements based on the study goals and sediment characteristics. The first prototype is designed for 300 m below the seafloor in soft sediment and 1500 m b.s.l. However, SCIMPI could be tailored for deeper goals. The instrument can be configured for autonomous or cabled observatory deployments and has successfully undergone a number of tests, including pressure, communications, battery life, and interfacing with other drill-ship equipment. Here we discuss the design of the instrument, its capabilities, and the testing process it has passed through during four years of development. SCIMPI was successfully deployed on the Cascadia margin within the NEPTUNE Canada observatory network during IODP Expedition 341S in May 2013.

OUC-Raman (OUC, Ocean University of China) underwater detection system based on Raman-spectroscopy is designed to operate as instrument node in seafloor cabled observatory network. Considering requirement and standard of seafloor cabled observatory network, this article designs control system for OUC-Raman. It's composed of power management module and control module. Power management module ensures electronic character of OUC-Raman instrument node meeting standard of seafloor cabled observatory network, control module enables shore-based terminal to manipulate underwater system. This control system has redundancy structure to ensure its reliability in seafloor environment. Up to now, OUC-Raman instrument node has received multiple tests with satisfactory results.

In this research, the automatically analyzation method which detect acoustic events such as fin whale calls and its locations is embedded in cable observatory system. This system has detection method about fin whale calls using spectrogram correlation, and the localization of fin whale calls using two hydrophones and a three-axis seismometer. This observation at off Kushiro-Tokachi has been continuously performed for more than 10 years. The detection and tracking analysis for fin whale calls are carried out about the archive data in parallel with the real-time data. The results of the past 10 years including the latest information is reported.

Every few hundred years, the Cascadia subduction zone off the coast of the Pacific Northwest hosts devastating earthquakes, and there is a growing awareness of the need to be prepared for these events. An offshore cabled observatory extending the length of the Cascadia subduction zone would enhance the performance of the earthquake and tsunami early warning systems, would enable real time monitoring and predictions of the incoming tsunami, and would contribute substantially to scientific research aimed at mitigating the hazard. The University of Washington has recently initiated a study to develop a conceptual design for the U.S. portion of an offshore observatory for earthquake and tsunami early warning and research. This paper presents the motivation for this work and plans for the study.

This report reviews and characterizes UDNs and describes areas in which standards are being used, where they exist or can be adapted, and other areas in which development and acceptance of standards would contribute to the implementation of UDN for applications of interest. This assessment concludes that the areas in which standards are most lacking is in subsystem and element interfaces, particularly interfaces with Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) and recommended practices for application to UDN components and subsystems.

Coastal ocean environment exhibits rapid change in time and space. Continuous long term measurements of environmental data are scarce. Environmental parameters, such as temperature and salinity, change due to multi-scale physical processes, such as Kuroshio and internal waves. A different scale of physical process affects planktonic ecosystem differently. In order to investigate how planktonic ecosystem responds to multi-scale physical processes, we have deployed a cabled observatory system (Oshima Coastal Environmental data Acquisition Network System, OCEANS) in coastal area of Habu port (Oshima island, Tokyo). OCEANS is a part of Joint Environmental Data Integration System (JEDI System) that is a research program supported by CREST (JST).

The Station ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO) is an ocean-bottom observatory that allows continuous real-time monitoring of ocean processes including sounds produced by baleen whales. Baleen whales can be challenging to study using traditional visual methods due to their cryptic behavior and offshore ranges. Many baleen whales produce distinctive sounds that propagate well under water and so ocean-bottom hydrophones like the one at the ACO can be used to investigate the occurrence and acoustic behavior of these animals in locations that are difficult to access and study long-term using other methods. We examined 12 months of recordings from the ACO (February 2007–February 2008) and found that sounds produced by blue, sei, and minke whales all occurred seasonally between October and April. Low-frequency pulses produced by fin whales were detected year-round, although much less frequently during the summer months than during the winter months. These seasonal patterns matched those of humpback whales, who migrate to Hawai’ian waters to breed and give birth. Blue, minke, fin, and sei whales are probably using Hawai’ian waters for breeding, but further research is necessary to confirm this. The ACO has provided, and continues to provide, a long-term dataset for investigating seasonal and diurnal trends in the occurrence of baleen whales and other cetaceans at a location that would be difficult to study any other way.

The abundance and composition of fish assemblages varies at different temporal scales as a product of diel and annual rhythms. In this study, we used a video-wired observatory (OBSEA, www.obsea.es) to monitor annual rhythms in a coastal fish assemblage with a 3-year data set (2012-2014). The photographs were acquired at 30 min frequency. Five species of the family Sparidae were studied (i.e. Dentex dentex, Diplodus sargus, Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus annularis and Diplodus puntazzo) together with water temperature and daylength. The results of the annual rhythmicity analysis indicated that most of the peaks of abundance occured in the autumn months. Results suggest differentially temporal use of the reproductive or trophic niche.

DONET (Dense Oceanfloor Network System for Earthquakes and Tsunamis) is a cabled observation system for long-term and real time monitoring using precision sensors on the seafloor. The development and the manufacturing of DONET2 system were commenced in 2013, and the construction was completed on schedule in 2016. In this paper, the DONET2 system and its installation technologies are introduced.

Utilizing a variety of substances which exist in seafloor as resources has a possibility to influence on the environment. The practical use of seafloor resources needs a development of environmental impact prediction method and a development of framework to carry out the continuous environmental impact assessment. A submarine cabled observatory is plant to deploy to hydrothermal activity area in submarine volcano as a test site to establish the method of environmental impact prediction and monitoring tool verification. This paper describes the submarine cabled observatory design to realize the long-term evaluation of variety of monitoring tools in actual hydrothermal environment.

Cabled ocean observatories enabling large amounts of power and two-way communication bandwidth for underwater experiments are a future approach for studying the oceans. On April 21, 2011, at Monterey Bay, California, USA, a network node composed of a junction box (JBox) and three scientific instruments was deployed at the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) site for a 6-month uninterrupted sea trial. The JBox is a facility that can provide multiple wet-mateable connections for various instruments. Each connection can draw 500 W of power and has 10/100 Mbit/s network communication. The current study presents the design and construction of the JBox with focus on the following aspects: a power distribution system with high reliability; a flexible springloaded mechanical structure for heat dissipation; communication that incorporates various data protocols; and self-protection against faults like over-current, short fault, ground fault, and flooding. The deployment and operation of the JBox is described. The sea trial results show that the technologies and methods applied on the JBox and the deploying approach are applicable and worthy of consideration for long-term cabled ocean observatories.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC; http://www.oceannetworks.ca) operates the NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the western coast of Canada (Figure 1) and an increasing number of miniature ocean observatories, such as in the Canadian Arctic. These observatories collect data on physical, chemical, biological, and geological properties of the ocean and seafloor over long time periods, supporting research on complex Earth processes in ways not previously possible (Taylor, 2009; Barnes et al., 2012, 2013). All recorded data are permanently archived and publicly available in real time through ONC's Oceans 2.0 data portal. Much of the data collected by ONC is related to marine geohazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, submarine landslides, waves, and gas hydrate stability. These real-time data are used by early warning centers and could be made available to decision makers through Smart Ocean Systems (http://www.oceannetworks.ca/technology-services/smart-ocean-systems).

This paper discusses near- and far-field tsunami observations at the Hokkaido, Japan, offshore cabled observatory, focusing on the 2006 Kuril Island earthquake (Mw 8.3) as a far-field event and the 2008 off-Tokachi earthquake (Mw 6.8) as a near-field event. The Kuril Islands earthquake was detected as a series of tsunami signals by 2 bottom pressure gauges roughly 1 hour after the earthquake. Tsunami amplitudes observed offshore were 3 cm and off-coastal amplitudes were a few tens of centimeters. In the 2008 near-field off-Tokachi earthquake (Mw 6.8), a tsunami signal was detected simultaneously with the earthquake, which had a source amplitude of 4 cm. Our tsunami calculation reproduced the first wave well, but discrepancies about arrival time and amplitude arose for the second and later waves. Offshore tsunami sensors such as bottom pressure gauges, deep-ocean assessment and reporting of tsunami (DART) buoys, and kinematic global positioning system (GPS) buoys may thus become keys in early tsunami warning once appropriate dataset processing is implemented.

The existence of fluid in seismogenic zones plays a key role in great earthquakes. Data on electrical conductivity structures obtained by electromagnetic surveys across the great earthquake zones show that the seismically locked zones correspond to low conductive zones. This low conductivity is possibly interpreted as relatively low fluid content in rock or sediment. For more discussion on the role of fluid in earthquake occurrence, we have recently started an electromagnetic and seismological monitoring project using long submarine cables off Toyohashi, in the southwest part of Japan's main island. The cables are located on the Tokai seismogenic zone, where both slow-slipping and locked zones are obvious by GPS observation. We constructed a seafloor observatory at the tip of the western cable, including a seismometer, pressure gauges, a magnetometer, voltmeters, and thermometers. These sensors measure and transfer data on the seafloor environment in real time. The data will be used for passive and active monitoring below the seafloor, including in the Tokai seismogenic zone.

To establish neutrino astronomy beyond the detection of single events, telescopes of cubic kilometer scale are needed. The IceCube neutrino telescope currently being built at the South Pole will be the first telescope with a detection volume of this size. In order to obtain full sky coverage, the construction of a corresponding telescope in the Northern hemisphere is being prepared. Since February 2006, the ANTARES, NEMO and NESTOR neutrino telescope projects have joined forces in the KM3NeT Design Study, supported by the European Commission in the FP6 framework, with the aim of compiling a technical design report for the construction of a neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea with a detection volume of at least a cubic kilometer. In addition the KM3NeT facility will house a long-term cabled observatory for marine sciences. This report will focus on the status of the Design Study and highlight some of the concepts being studied.

Aguzzi, Jacopo ... et. al.-- 21 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, The inclusion of behavioral components in the analysis of a community can be of paramount importance in marine ecology. Diel (i.e., 24-h based), seasonal activity rhythms, or longer durational in behavioral responses can result in shifts in populations, and therefore on measurable abundances. Here, we review the value of developing cabled video observatory technology for the remote, long-term, and high-frequency monitoring of fish and their environments in coastal temperate areas. We provide details on the methodological requirements and constraints for the appropriate measurement of fish behavior over various seasonal scales (24 h, seasonal, annual) with camera systems mounted at fixed observatory locations. We highlight the importance of using marine sensors to simultaneously collect relevant environmental data in parallel to image data acquisition. Here we present multiparametric video, oceanographic, and meteorological data collected from the Mediterranean observatory platform, OBSEA (www.obsea.es; 20 m water depth). These data are reviewed in relation to ongoing and future developments of cabled observatory science. Two key approaches for the future improvement of cabled observatory technology are: (1) the application of Artificial Intelligence to aid in the analysis of increasingly large, complex, and highly interrelated biological and environmental data sets, and (2) the development of geographical observational networks to enable the reliable spatial analysis of observed populations over extended distances. © 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, This research was funded by RITFIM (CTM2010-16274) and European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observation (EMSO Preparatory Phase-FP7 Infrastructures-2007-1, Proposal 211816). Researchers from CSIC-UPC are members of the Associated Unit Tecnoterra. The paper was also partially funded by the Helmholtz Alliance ‘‘Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments (ROBEX)’’ project. I.A. Catalán was partially supported by REC2 from the Spanish Government, CTM2011-23835

This paper describes the motivations and main components of MEUST (Mediterranean Eurocentre for Underwater Sciences and Technologies), a permanent deep sea cabled observatory being deployed off shore of Toulon, France.

The analogies between space and deep sea motivated the German Helmholtz Association to setup the joint research program ROBEX (ROBotic Exploration under eXtreme conditions). The programme objectives are to identify, develop and verify technological synergies between the robotic exploration of the Moon and of the deep sea. In both space and deep sea research orbiters and AUVs/gliders respectively provide a large set of information on the environment but landers and mobile robots are essential to ground truth the data and validate theories. Within ROBEX the mobility of robots is a vital element for research missions due to valuable science return potential from different sites as opposed to static landers. After 2.5 years of project-time three main mobile systems are prepared for demonstrationmissions, one wheel-based system for planetary missions, one wheel based system for extended deep-sea missions and a caterpillar system for high resolution investigation of small surface regions in the deep sea. In all cases sufficient onboard intelligence was needed. The mobile robots should also be capable of return to a central station for recharging, with the station equipped with enough battery power to allow multiple missions. The intelligent seafloor robot “iCrawler” is presented here, which is based on a tele-operated robot, which has been successfully used within the ONC (Ocean Networks Canada) cabled observatory project since 2010.

This paper introduces the Smart Electronic Interface for Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems of the NeXOS project as example how interoperable standards help, to facilitate the creation of an infrastructure for sharing oceanographic observation data and the integration of sensor into marine installations. A given kind of sensor may be deployed on various platforms such as floats, gliders or moorings, and thus must be integrated with different data acquisition systems. Simplifying the integration process in existing or newly established observing systems would have benefit system operators and is important for the broader application of different sensors. Several sensor systems will be developed in NeXOS project for specific technologies and monitoring strategies such as: ocean passive acoustics, ocean optics, and EAF monitoring (Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries), that will provide an integrated, technologically coherent system for multi-scale, multi-parameter monitoring of the oceans. For all these sensors system, the Smart Electronic Interface for Sensors and Instruments (SEISI) is developed, which is a set of standards and functionalities to enable Web-based sharing, discovery, exchange and processing of sensor observations, and operation of sensor systems. The architecture will satisfy international standards, defined by ISO, OGC, and the INSPIRE directive, to enable integration of marine sensors with existing observing systems. The SEISI will provide a multifunctional interface for many types of current sensors and instruments as well as the new multi-parameter sensor systems, and a standard interface for existing observing systems platforms such as: cabled observatories, buoys, gliders or Ferryboxes on ship or vessel of opportunity. To achieve the compatibility with all these platforms, the sensor systems developed in NeXOS based on SEISI will be designed to accomplish two main requirements of these platforms regarding the communication bandwidth and the power consumption.

Rotllant, Guiomar ... et. al.-- 12 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, Artificial reef areas can be used for management and conservation of commercially exploited crustacean decapods but their behaviour in these environments is poorly characterised. Acoustic tags were used to study the behaviour of 3 adult spiny lobsters (Palinurus mauritanicus) and 3 adult spider crabs (Maja squinado) over a period of 64 days in summer, evaluating the use of artificial reef areas as suitable sites for re-stocking of overfished decapods. For this purpose, animals were released in a western Mediterranean artificial reef located at 20 m depth, close to a cabled seafloor observatory, which simultaneously recorded temperature, salinity, current direction, current speed and light intensity over the study period. Spiny lobsters lingered in the reef area, whereas the spider crabs left the area 21–45 h after release. These behavioural differences suggested that artificial reefs might be a good area to deploy adult lobsters for re-stocking purposes. The movements displayed by the lobsters during this experiment were not influenced by any of the measured environmental factors, whereas spider crab movements occurred against major current direction, when current speed was intense. © 2014, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the research project: ‘‘Redes de sensores submarinos acu´sticos aplicados al seguimiento de especies de interes comercial’’ (TRA2009_0294) to AM and to National Sea Harvest Advisory Board (JACUMAR) belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment under the research project: ‘‘Propuestas y mejoras para el disen˜o y control de los planes de repoblacio´n y evaluacio´n del impacto de los escapes—REPES’’ to GR. [...] Jacopo Aguzzi is a fellow within the Ramón y Cajal Program (MICINN)

At the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake of M8, seafloor phenomena such as a generation process of tsunami, seafloor uplifts, turbidity current, etc., were observed using a cabled observatory installed on the seafloor. The turbidity current was observed as a benthic storm caused presumably by the mainshock. The seafloor uplifts were observed at the mainshock and continuously after the mainshock. The uplifts were 0.35, 0.37, and 0.12 m for epicentral distances of 25.5, 31.4, and 81.7 km, respectively. After the mainshock, a continuous uplift of the seafloor is observed at all three pressure gauge locations indicating that there was a change in the state of friction on the plate boundary interface by the mainshock. In this paper, we first show what was observed using the cabled observatory installed right above the focal area of the earthquake, and then we discuss to summarize these phenomena associated with the earthquake, its possible causes, and future directions in long term monitoring of seismogenic processes.