Observing the Ocean and Earth with SMART Subsea Cables

The ocean is key to understanding climate change, sea level rise, ocean warming, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Because the ocean is difficult and costly to monitor, we lack fundamental data needed to adequately model, understand, and address these processes. Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications (SMART) Cables is working to integrate sensors into undersea telecommunications cables. These sensors will share the power and communications infrastructure of millions of kilometers of undersea fiber optic cable, enabling seafloor-based global ocean observing at modest incremental costs. The Joint Task Force (JTF) leads the initiative to realize SMART cables. The JTF is sponsored by three United Nations agencies and its members include representatives from government agencies, research and academic institutions, and the private sector. Initial sensors include temperature, pressure, and seismic acceleration. These sensors will provide climate and ocean data and improve global tsunami and earthquake warning networks. In this seminar we first describe the SMART initiative and then focus on the two systems for which contracts have been recently signed: the Tamtam system connecting Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and the Atlantic CAM system connecting Lisbon (the Continent), Azores and Madeira in a 3700 km ring with SMART nodes along the cable, both to be installed in 2026. The opportunities in early warning of seismic and tsunami events and climate and ocean circulation for these and more globally will be discussed.