MeDON Phase II - OutlineMeDON Partners Meeting, Oceanopolis, Brest. June 27th – 28th 2011

Chris Gallienne, PML

An initial investigation of potential development of MeDON Phase II project proposal with the principal aim of developing a sub-sea cabled

observatory in the Plymouth area to match, complement and build upon the developments under phase I in Brest.

Proposed location of phase II

• Plymouth Sound Special Area of Conservation (SAC, shaded)• Strictly protected sites designated under the EC Habitats Directive.• Potential phase II sites at Penlee Point and Wembury Bay

Penlee Point

Wembury

Proposed location of phase IIWembury Bay:• Very sheltered location• Wembury Marine centre a

useful potential partner providing outreach potential

• No suitable shore station location.

• No line of sight to PML• Temporary building, power

generator & GSM connection required?

Penlee Point:• Line of sight exists between

Penlee Point and PML.• Distance is 5.8km (3.1nm).• We can use the Ubiquity

wireless ethernet system.• Existing building can house

shore station, provide power.• MOD interest in this area –

potentially a useful partner.

Proposed location of phase II

Penlee point control building

Proposed location of phase II

Line-of-sight to PML

Proposed general topography of phase II

Outline design

• A small pilot cabled sea-floor sensor network to monitor marine ecosystem state and processes.

• A backbone cable will provide power and communications between a wired network of small, low-power purpose built sensor units and a shore station.

• From there it will connect to PML intranet using Ubiquity wireless ethernet.

Proposed development of phase II

Development potential

• The system will be designed to be modular and portable.• This will enable redeployment in response to incidents such as pollution

events.• This may also present opportunities to take advantage of developments

in offshore power generation installations as hosts for and collaborators in the development of small cabled observatories.

Initial estimation of costs for phase II

Basis for costing:

• The proposed project has a rather high proportion of costs in equipment and infrastructure installation which are difficult to estimate prior to a detailed initial design study in collaboration with external partners.

• Pending such a discussion, the estimate of costs is therefore given with a wider than usual degree of uncertainty.

Initial estimates:

• Equipment: £0.8 -1.2M; • Staff: £0.3-0.4M; • Ship time: £0.1-0.2M; • Other: £0.32M;• Total: £1.4 – 2.0M. • Funding to be requested: £1.12 – 1.60M

Potential partners for Phase II

UK:• Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth.• University of Plymouth.• Global Marine Systems, Chelmsford, UK – Project partner and contributor in

kind. Underwater system design, sub-sea cabling, power & communications installation.

• Sonardyne International Ltd., Plymouth, UK – Project partner and contributor in kind – Acoustic sensing and communication systems. Also expressed interest as potential system end user.

• Valeport Ltd., Totnes, UK – Project partner - Sensor development and manufacture, instrument housings.

• UKHO and MoD – Project site survey, permissions, potential shore station at Penlee Point. We have written support from UKHO for link to existing project developing GIS services in Plymouth Sound.

• Wembury Marine Centre, Devon, UK – potential shore station at Wembury Bay, and public outreach centre.

• National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth, UK – Public outreach.

France:• IFREMER, Brest – Scientific and technological development.• Oceanopolis – public outreach.• Ensta, Brest. – Acoustic technology development.