K2D: Towards A Global Scale Monitoring System for Oceans Using Subsea Cables and Autonomous Sensing Platforms
Advancements in technology have opened up extraordinary opportunities for monitoring the Earth to an extent never seen before. Robots equipped with sensors have played a crucial role in providing valuable ongoing data to scientists, allowing them to delve into the intricate dynamics of our planet and assess the impact of human activities. However, our understanding of the oceans significantly lags behind that of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and even other celestial bodies. Due to the well-recognized harshness of the oceanic environment, engineers and scientists face formidable challenges. Their task involves not only expanding our knowledge of the oceans but also taking proactive measures to prevent disasters and ensure more sustainable management of the Earth’s resources K2D aims at developing a global monitoring system for oceans, capable of collecting data from all depths, from the deep-sea bottoms to the surface. This system utilizes existing subsea communication and energy transport cables to create a network for real-time continuous sensing of ocean conditions. The project proposes the use of various components, such as sensing platforms and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, to gather extensive and comprehensive data on physical, chemical, biological, and environmental variables. The lecture associated with the project discusses the motivation behind it, highlighting relevant applications and the potential of SMART (Sensor Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications) cables. The lecture also provides insights into the project’s concepts, developments, and major achievements.