ION Minutes

AGU December 17, 2008

Attendees:

Stephen (Chairman) Butler Howe Montagner Schultz

IFREE Workshop – March 2008

ION members were active in an IFREE, ERI, DONET sponsored workshop in Japan in March 2008 focusing on seafloor observation networks. One of the main recommendations to come out of this workshop was to set up an international committee [like ION] to coordinate current programs in East Asia, Europe and USA.

LRSPS Workshop – September 2008

ION members were also active in the US sponsored Long Range Science Plan for Seismology Workshop that was held in Denver in September 2008 ( http://www.iris.edu/hq/lrsps/ ). The draft workshop report, which contains a number of ideas and projects of interest to ION, is available on the web site.

IASPEI Meeting – January 2009

The two sessions originally proposed by ION have been combined in the final program into “S9 - Extending land networks into the sea and oceans”. There will be five talks by Yamada (invited), Shinohara, Favali and Stephen (2) on Monday morning (January 12). There will also be an ION meeting on Wednesday, January 14 and ION will be represented at the IASPEI Executive Meeting on Thursday, January 15.

IUGG Meeting – June/July 2011

Planning has started for the IUGG in Melbourne, Australia in 2011 (27 June to 8 July). Suggestions for ION sponsored sessions are welcomed.

OceanObs ’09 – September 2009

The oceanographic and climate change communities are organizing a symposium called OceanObs’09 in Venice, Italy, September 21-25, 2009. Information is available at http://www.oceanobs09.net/goals/index.php . Although suggestions for the draft agenda were originally requested by 15 November, it may not be too late for ION to actively participate in the planning process. Some background:

“Almost a decade has passed since the OceanObs’99 symposium played a major role in consolidating the plans for a comprehensive ocean observing system, able to deliver systematic global information about the physical environment of the oceans. For the first time in history, the world’s oceans are being observed routinely and systematically by means of satellite and in situ techniques.

It is now critically important to establish an international framework that will sustain the present system, evolve it to respond to increasing needs, and help it realize the full extent of its benefits across all stakeholders. It is equally important to present a clear vision extending the present observing system to include comprehensive and routine observations, information and services on the biogeochemical state of the ocean and the status of marine ecosystems.

The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS), and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) have called for the OceanObs’09 conference, charging the organizers to address the issues raised above and to help lay out a path for sustaining the benefits of ocean information and services in the coming decade. To accomplish those goals, the conference will be different from OceanObs’99.

OceanObs’09 will celebrate the benefits of the existing initial ocean observing system and highlight its potential, developing a consensus plan for sustaining and evolving systematic and routine global ocean observations in the coming decade. Equally important, OceanObs’09 will outline a framework to develop ocean information and service systems over the coming decade, with benefits for the scientific community, and to support sound decisions in other areas of societal benefit including agriculture, adaptation to climate change, hazard warnings, health, and other economic sectors. The conference will define the observing system required for the development of these information and service systems.”

US Ocean Observatory Initiative and Seafloor Seismology

Morale is quite low in the US "global" seafloor seismic observatory community. Only one of the OOI proposed sites is a high priority site for the Ocean Seismic Network and the configuration of the deep water moorings is not suitable for real time telemetry from, and power to, the seafloor. After some discussion it was concluded that there was little point in pursuing real-time, seafloor borehole observatories (as originally planned for the aborted Hawaii-2 Observatory). It was recommended that US seafloor seismic efforts focus on: i) regional, real-time, ocean bottom seismic installations (eg the Regional Scale Nodes off the Pacific Northwest), ii) the existing real-time coastal broadband seismic installation on MARS, iii) perhaps adding seismometers to the ALOHA cabled observatory, and iv) long-term array deployments using conventional, free-fall, autonomously recording OBSs.

Neptune Canada

Although Garry Rogers did not attend the meeting he did send an update on planning for seismometers on Neptune Canada. See below.

NEPTUNE Canada

(http://www.neptunecanada.ca)

Neptune Canada:

The laying of the 800km cable loop from Port Alberni to the Endeavor Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge was completed November 7, 2008. Initially five instrument nodes will be deployed: Folger Passage, ODP 889, Endeavour, ODP 1027 and Barkley Canyon. Instrument nodes and junction boxes were not deployed in 2008 as originally planned and now deployment of nodes, junction boxes and most scientific instruments is planned for summer 2009.

Neptune Canada Seismograph Network (PI: Garry Rogers)

Initially Broadband OBS observatories will be deployed at ODP 889, Endeavour and ODP 1027. Each observatory will consist of a 3-component broadband seismometer, a 3-component accelerometer, and a nearby differential pressure sensor, current meter and hydrophone. Guralp was the successful bidder for 3 broadband instrument packages. There is still a hope of deploying a fourth broadband OBS at Barkley Canyon but a source of funding has not yet been found.

Four short period instruments will be deployed on the Ridge near the Endeavour Broadband OBS observatory, three in the same locations as the previous UW/ MBARI experiment. MBARI has agreed to long term loan of 3-component GEOSENSE SP seismometers retrieved summer 2007. Electronics for the short period systems will be from Guralp.

Garry Rogers (December, 2008)