5th Workshop on "SMART Cable Systems: Latest
Developments and Designing the Wet
Demonstrator Project"
(Dubai, UAE, 17-18 April 2016)
Recent progress of the ITU/UNESCO-IOC/WMO
Joint Task Force (JTF) on SMART Cable Systems
Christopher R. Barnes
Chair, ITU/WMO/IOC-UNESCO Joint Task Force
School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of
Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
crbarnes@uvic.ca
Facilitation by ITU-WMO-UNESCO IOC’s
Joint Task Force (JTF)
JTF, and its three sponsoring agencies, will promote,
collaborate and facilitate in:
• Helping advocate for and review proposed SMART
subsea cable systems
• Linking key stakeholders: cable owners and suppliers
with international and national agencies/NGOs
responsible for social and economic benefits, monitoring
and disasters
• Wet Demonstrator project: seeking an Expression of
Interest from industry and ocean observatories
• JTF Workshop, 17-18 April 2016, Dubai (before
SubOptic): planning industry and ocean observatory
support for a specific wet demonstrator project
We need your help and support!
Societal benefits in adding sensors for
climate and disaster monitoring
Societal and environmental issues:
• Climate change – ocean temperature and
circulation – direct impact on societies
• Sea level rise – hazard for coastal states and
cities
• Disaster warning– tsunami monitoring
throughout ocean basins and coastal margins
• Some past trends and disturbing future
predictions (next slides)
Climate Change: cause and effects
Mauna Loa, Hawaii, CO2 record: 1960-2015
Anthropogenic carbon release rate unprecedented
during the past 66 million years
“We conclude that, given currently available records, the
present anthropogenic carbon release rate is unprecedented
during the past 66 million years. We suggest that such a ‘noanalogue’ state represents a fundamental challenge in
constraining future climate projections. Also, future
ecosystem disruptions are likely to exceed the relatively
limited extinctions observed at the PETM.”
Zeebe et al., 2016, Nature Geoscience
“The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) “is the
biggest, most massive carbon release event since dinosaurs
disappeared,” “Because the rate of carbon dioxide release is
10 times faster today, the severity of climate change’s
physical effects on the Earth, such as ocean acidification,
could be much worse than we thought” said Richard Zeebe,
Eos, 2016.
Jan-Feb-March 2016 have each seen highest global
monthly average temperature
Methane explosion vents from Siberia’s permafrost
One of dozens of newly discovered craters, 30km from Bovanenkovo, Yamal
Peninsula, northern Siberia. Photo: Vasily Bogoyavlensky, 25 August 2014.
The accumulation of energy in distinct parts of
Earth’s climate system since 1971
Ocean warming
dominates, with water
at depths above 700 m
(light blue) storing more
heat than water below
that depth (dark blue).
Uncertainty in the
ocean components
dominates the total
uncertainty (dashed
lines at 90%
confidence level).
Sabra et al., Physics
Today (2016)
Arctic sea ice loss 1979-2015
The monthly average Arctic sea ice extent for February was the third lowest in the
satellite record. Through 2015, the linear rate of decline for February extent is 2.9% per
decade.
Sea level rise
Sea level change:1700-2100
IPCC WG 1 2013
Schematic of the global ocean overturning circulation
Purple = upper ocean & thermocline. Red = denser thermocline & intermediate water. Orange =
Indian Deep Water and Pacific Deep Water. Green = North Atlantic Deep Water. Blue = Antarctic
Bottom Water. Gray = Bering Strait components & Mediterranean & Red Sea inflows
Talley (2013) based on Talley et al. (2011), Schmitz (1995), Rahmstorf (2002), and Lumpkin and Speer (2007).
IPCC WG 1 2013
Sea Change: 2015-2025 survey of the
ocean sciences (U.S. NRC/NSF)
• The ocean's overturning circulation varies in both space and
time, with significant variability on time scales less than a
year and with spatially non-uniform upwelling. Recent
observations and modeling results have challenged the
"great ocean conveyor belt" paradigm. For decades
oceanographers assumed that the overturning circulation
changed gradually, that its strength was coherent across the
entire Atlantic and that the deep currents were concentrated
along the western boundaries of the basins. Instead, it is
now understood that the overturning circulation is marked
by strong temporal and spatial variability and that the deep
waters' equatorward pathways include the ocean interior.
The Southern Ocean plays a key role in returning deep
waters to the surface via wind-driven upwelling. This more
sophisticated view of ocean circulation, which is the result of
the international observational programs as well as the
novel use of Lagrangian floats, opens new avenues for
understanding ocean heat, freshwater and carbon transport.
Earthquakes and tsunamis
Coastal/infrastructure/ecosystem destruction
by tsunamis and submarine slope failures
• Several major tsunamis occurred in the last decade,
notably associated with megathrust earthquakes between
Mw 7.7 and 9.1, in Sumatra (2004), Java (2006), US
Samoa (2009), Mantawai (2010), Chile (2010) and Japan
(2011) resulting in severe loss of life and billions of dollars
of anthropogenic, ecosystem and environmental damage
• Reducing such losses and mitigating damage is a key
factor in developing tsunami warning systems (Bernard
and Robinson, 2009; Whitmore, 2009)
Recent tsunamis: travel times and vast extent
Travel times of the 26 December 2004
tsunami, Indonesia, generated by an offshore
Mw 9.1 earthquake
Travel times of the 11 March 2011
tsunami, northern Japan, generated by
an offshore Mw 9 earthquake
Reliable tsunami warning systems are owed to the world community
Devastating effects of the 11
March 2011 tsunami, northern
Japan, generated by an
offshore Mw 9 earthquake
Tsunami buoys malfunctioned as powerful Mw7.8
earthquake hits Indonesia, 2 March 2016
• JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian officials said Thursday (3
March 2016) that all 22 tsunami warning buoys installed near
vulnerable islands failed to work when a powerful earthquake
struck off the coast of Sumatra.
• Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said
the buoys were inoperable because of vandalism or a lack of funds
for operation and maintenance.
• "That made it difficult to determine whether or not the quake triggered
a tsunami," Sutopo said.
• A magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit parts of Sumatra and small islands in
western Indonesia on Wednesday evening, sending thousands of
islanders rushing to high ground but causing no major damage or
deaths.
• In 2004, a tsunami caused by a very powerful undersea earthquake
killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean,
most of them in Aceh province on Sumatra. That quake had a
magnitude of 9.1, nearly 90 times the strength of the quake on
Wednesday.
Earthquake hazard mitigation
Global seismic hazard map developed by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment
Program (GSHAP) (Giardini, 1999)
Allen 2007
Global seismic hazard and extent of Early
Earthquake Warnings (EEW)
Symbols show the few regions of the world where public citizens and organizations currently receive
earthquake warnings and the types of data used to generate those warnings. Background color is peak
ground acceleration with 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years from the Global Seismic Hazard
Assessment Program.
Sarah E. Minson et al. 2015
© the Authors. Published under a Creative Commons license by AAAS.
ITU/WMO/UNESCO IOC’s Joint Task Force (JTF):
Organization and recent activities
Executive Committee
Chair of the JTF
Vice-Chair of the JTF
Chair of Science and Society Committee
Co-Chairs of Engineering Committee
Co-Chairs of Business Model Committee
Chair of Legal Committee
Co-Chairs of Publicity, Outreach and Marketing
Committee
BARNES
MELDRUM
BUTLER
HOWE
Christopher
David
Rhett
Bruce
DOYLE
COSTIN
MARIANO
BRESSIE
BAYLIFF
PHIBBS
Laurie
Michael
John
Kent
Nigel
Peter
Secretariat
OTA
Hiroshi
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
AARUP
Thorkild
CABRERA
DELJU
FISCHER
Edgar
Amir H.
Albert
GROSS
Tom
SCHOLL
Reinhard
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of
UNESCO
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of
UNESCO
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of
UNESCO
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Staff
See: Annual Reports for 2014 and 2015 on website for details
Science and Society Committee (Rhett Butler, Chair)
• Germany’s GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) is organizing a SMART
cable workshop focused on tsunamis, in Europe, late 2016.
• Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSE) were discussed
in a EU proposal regarding Cables in the Arctic—INTARCTOS.
• Jérome Aucan (New Caledonia) discussed plans for two new cables:
Nouméa-Mare Island and Mare Island-Vanuatu (Port Vila) with wet
demonstrator potential.
• JTF input at UNESCO-IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group of
the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/PTWS),
Hawaii; discussion with Joan Gomberg (USGS) on a proposed
subduction zone monitoring system.
• Continued engagement with US Congressional staff regarding
Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2015 (H.R.34) and
potential for using SMART cables.
• University of Hawaii installed a Paroscientific nano-resolution
pressure sensor—proposed as a sensory component of SMART
cables—at ALOHA Cabled Observatory.
• New members added to the Committee: Ikuko Wada (Tohoku
University; University of Minnesota), Joan Gomberg (USGS),
Charlotte Rowe (LANL), Frederik Tilmann and Maik Thomas (GFZ).
Engineering Committee (Bruce Howe and Laurie
Doyle, Co-Chairs)
• Two documents were released from embargo in May:
• Functional Requirements of “green” submarine cable systems
• Scope document and budgetary cost estimate for a “Wet Demonstrator”.
• An Expression of Interest letter for Wet Demonstrator project sent to industry CEOs and
cabled ocean observatories by Dr. Chaesub Lee (Director, TSB/ITU), March 2015. Three
observatories responded positively: EMSO (Europe), ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO,
Hawaii), Ocean Networks Canada. More definitive commitments will be sought (in-kind
support, funding, schedule).
• Alternatives to working with an existing cabled observatory were considered, including
developments by:
• Partnership with a new localized commercial cable between 2 island states (e.g. in
Western Pacific) or in North Alaska;
• One or more commercial companies as a commercial enterprise;
• An intermediate phase of simulation and modelling.
• Howe presented the JTF program to Interagency Working Group (IWG/OP), NSF, BOEM,
NASA, USGS, ONR, NOAA, USGS, FWS, US Coast Guard, in Washington, July, 2015;
and again to BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) in August.
• Howe led 2nd NASA Workshop, University of Hawaii, May 2015 (From space to the deep
seafloor: Using “SMART” submarine cable systems in the ocean observing system). First
workshop was CalTech, October 2014. Report, is on website.
• New member added: Katsuyoshi Kawaguchi (JAMSTEC and DONET)
Publicity, Outreach and Marketing Committee (Nigel
Bayliff and Peter Phibbs, Co-chairs)
• Additional content added to website, including
publications and presentations.
• LinkedIN group was established to increase
engagement with industry contacts.
• Produced a document that outlines the structure of a
recommendation under the ITU-T G.series, covering
submarine cable infrastructure. Submitted in December
2015 as a Liaison Statement to Study Group 15 of the
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau followed
by a formal presentation, February 2016.
• Opened an avenue of cooperation with the UN Global
Compact, briefing senior delegates of the JTF work
and synergy with other UN efforts on Corporate Social
Responsibility, particularly regarding Climate and
Environmental awareness and protection.
Business Model Committee (Michael Costin and
John Mariano, Co-Chairs)
• JTF Report on Green Cables Funding Study was released via website, January 2016,
which examined the potential for development effort and funding of Wet Demonstrator.
Most promising potential corporate and foundation funding sources were identified with
recommendations about solicitation.
• Clear need was identified for Wet Demonstrator involving industry demonstration of the
capabilities and product suite that can be reliability applied to a commercial system.
Without this Wet Demonstrator, or a supplier performing its own qualification of
SMART application, the acceptance of this new technology on any new commercial
system will not be likely.
• The Business Model for a system owner to implement SMART into their commercial
systems would need to identify both funding sources to offset the original CAPEX and
data recipients willing to support data management costs.
• Efforts have not yet identified new system developers willing to introduce SMART
without understanding the full costs and ROI.
• Potential commercial SMART projects in South Pacific remain in development;
however, other new project proponents vying for funding may be open to SMART
concept because of their planned connectivity with South Pacific island communities.
Legal Committee (Kent Bressie, Chair)
• In 2015, the Legal Committee continued to focus principally on supporting the tasks of
the JTF’s other committees. The Chair continues to engage in various public fora with
interested parties expressing views and concerns about legal and regulatory issues
with the JTF’s work and SMART cables generally.
Future trends and opportunities for the
submarine cable industry
• Technology: Ongoing surge in ICT developments, Internet use, video
and financial transactions, plus advances in subsea technology
Ever increasing hunger for capacity will soon achieve 1 Terabyte/s per
lambda – now only deploying 100Gb/s
Submarine Cable Map 2016
Imagine the impact of having sensors every 50-100km along future cables….
TeleGeography
JTF Wet Demonstrator design:
Funding and some NRE work needed
• Minimum of three repeater/sensor sets
• Minimum separation 3x water depth
• Greater separation preferred, up to 50km
Scope of Wet
Demonstrator
Test Facility or
Cabled Ocean
Observatory
Wet-mate
connector
Adaptation
Device (if
required)
50-100m
6-50km
LW or LWP
Lead-in cable
(if required)
Sensor
Set
6-50km
Sensor
Set
6-50km
Sensor
Set
End cable
and seal
Ground rope
and anchors
Mallin Consultants 2014
Sensor requirements
Functional requirements:
• Physical
– small
– qualified for shock
– able to pass through
cable engines
• Maintenance
– none
• Calibration
– no intervention
• No foreseeable impact on
telecom system through failure
of sensor or related equipment
Data Rate per sensor location:
• Temperature 0.06 kbps
• Pressure 1 kbps
• Accelerometer 15 kbps
– total including
overhead
~ 20kbps
• Power
– ~5W per sensor
location
total
• Time Stamping
– 50μsec
Data return on supervisory
channel
• No impact on main fibres
Mallin Consultants 2014
Subsea pressure sensors - A key
element
RBRduo BPR is a submersible depth logger
(sonde, recorder) that is self-contained,
accurate and autonomous. RBRduo BPR is
calibrated to an accuracy of ± 0.01% full
scale, and is available to depth ratings up to
7000m; uses Paroscientific Digiquartz depth
gauge.
Paroscientific Digiquartz® Depth Sensors
offer accurate depth measurements to
7000m for use in wave and tide gauges,
tsunami detection, seabed subsidence, etc.
Typical application accuracy of 0.01% is
achieved, with excellent long-term stability, 1
x 10–8 resolution, low power consumption,
and high reliability.
Over 1000 deployed on DONET, Japan.
Proposal for Wet demonstrator
Scope of Wet
Demonstrator
Cabled Ocean
Observatory
Wet-mate
connector
Adaptation
Device (if
required)
50-100m
6-50km
LW or LWP
Lead-in cable
(if required)
Sensor
Set
6-50km
Sensor
Set
Wet mate hybrid or separate power
optical penetrators leading to a
jumper set to connect to science
observatory
6-50km
Sensor
Set
End cable
and seal
Ground rope
and anchors
Dummy repeater
housing to allow split
out of separate
composite power and
optics feed to sensor
set plus facilitate
amplifier interface
(ethernet) to
transmission fibre
Modular sensor set
Use of standard repeater with adaption for double penetrator bulkhead, Internal Unit
contains only passive optics tap into transmission fibres at O/head wavelength. No active
components therefore minimal reliability impact to repeater
5-10m?
Independent composite optical /power
feed to sensor protected with main
transmission cable
Utilising proven Branching Unit
double hermetic penetration
technology it is possible to provide
independent composite power and
optics to the science module
Pressure plus
accelerometer
sensors packaged
with E/O/comms
module.
Transmission cable
uninterrupted
without mechanical
break out.
Temperature sensors mounted in buffer and/or
outboard cable protection with protected
cabling back to E/O comms module to avoid
temperature pick up from module electronics
Potential Wet Demonstrator sites
U.S. submarine cabled observatory (Regional Scale
Nodes) and Canadian observatory (NEPTUNE Canada)
Kelley et al. (2014)
Locations of installed (green dots) and planned
cabled seafloor observatories (red dots)
Kelley et al. (2014)
Potential case for discussion
Recovered repeater cable
Island A
•
Low cost option to build a trial demonstrator
•
Provide a small point to point system
•
Test and validate sensor pack and robustness
of data communications
•
Leave a legacy system
•
Generate revenue for some remote islands
Island A
Potential to link western Pacific island states with
subsea cable systems: Palau
Palau, seen from above, risks being overrun as sea levels rise (Wuebbles et al.,
2015) LuXTonnerre
Even the US Senate supports SMART
114th Congress, 1st Session
H. R. 34
Tsunami Warning, and Education,
and Research Act of 2015
Passed by Unanimous Consent
• House 1/7/2015
• Senate 10/6/2015 amended
Tsunami Warning, and Education,
and Research Act of 2015
• SEC. 4. TSUNAMI FORECASTING AND
WARNING PROGRAM.
• (b) COMPONENTS.—The program under this
section shall—
• (9) provide and allow, as practicable, for
integration of tsunami detection technologies with
other environmental observing technologies and
commercial and Federal undersea
communications cables;
NASA’s Assessment of SMART
“first order addition to the ocean observing system, with
unique contributions that will strengthen and
complement satellite and in-situ systems.”
“the SMART pressure measurements serve as ground
truth and de-aliasing for tidal and other high
frequencies. SMART pressure data are necessary for
ground truth validation of GRACE data, leading to
significantly improved precision and global resolution.”
Final NASA Workshop Report, 2015
Challenge for the JTF, industry, and
research community
• Raise awareness, educate and publicize (in
part why we are here today)
• Search out the funds and potential investors
• Foundations, Global Banks, Industry
• Need executive commitment
• Coordinate and collaborate for a universal
solution, but tailored to specific deployments
• Educate governments to facilitate permits and
funding, and to utilize new environmental data
• Link to other global initiatives and international
agencies
Thank you….
.…any questions?
Joint Task Force (JTF) recent publication and website
SMART (Science Monitoring And
Resilient Telecommunications)
Subsea Cable Systems
Search: itu jtf
www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/climatechange/
task-force-sc/
Contact: greenstandard@itu.int
ITU 2015, Butler et al. S&S Committee (free)