Sensor networks for cabled ocean observatories

An infrastructure for global, regional, and coastal sub-sea observatories is being planned to support individual and networked sensors. Secondary cables and junction boxes, moorings, and downbore tools could extend the horizontal reach by tens to hundreds of km from the primary cable and nodes throughout the water column and down boreholes into the crust. The support infrastructure could include navigation and communications systems, free-swimming AUV's, and bottom rovers that could carry sensors and could provide data and energy "tanker" service.