The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), funded by the National Science Foundation, is planned as a networked infrastructure of science-driven sensor systems to measure the physical, chemical, geological, and biological variables in the ocean and seafloor. The Regional Scale Nodes (RSN) component of the OOI, will provide unprecedented power (10 kV) and bandwidth (10 Gb/s) to scientific sensor arrays on the seafloor and throughout the water column using instrumented moorings.
The RSN will be comprised of backbone cables that will run from the Shore Station in Pacific City, OR to primary nodes at Axial Seamount and Hydrate Ridge. Some of these primary nodes will be terminations, while others will pass power and bandwidth on to nodes further offshore. Extension cables will provide power and communication links between the Primary Infrastructure (the backbone cables and Primary Nodes) to Secondary Infrastructure (extension cables, junction boxes, low voltage nodes, and instruments).
Read more about OOI engineering and technologies through the links below.