Explore the ocean with high technology

The ocean covers more than 70% of the earth. Life in the oceans is diverse, rich and influential on the continents. Therefore, observing the ocean is also of interest to scientists around the world like studying the universe.

With the development of new technologies as well as of the Internet, scientists hope to be able to investigate complex processes that occur on earth and in the ocean, as well as their relationship with each other.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding oceanographers to implement a new program called the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) worth 331 million. dollars to survey oceans on earth.

John R. Delaney (Photo: Nytime)

John R. Delaney, the famous oceanography professor at Washington University, is the director of this program. He said this was a mission in the Planetary Ocean Program (Planet Ocean) of the US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . OOI will study the oceans through a cable system linked to the Internet, robots, data acquisition sensors and high resolution cameras deployed in the ocean . Mr. Delaney hopes the first devices will be installed in 2009.

The main goal of the OOI program is to better understand the influence of oceans on land life. OOI also studies the role of the ocean in carbon storage, global climate change, the cause of tsunamis, the future of fish species, and the influence of ocean temperatures on the timing of sowing. cultivated in agriculture. Oceanographers hope they will be able to make requests from their land office for OOI to make and download the results computers, not on a weekly or monthly basis at sea. to collect data as before.

For example, researchers will be able to quickly gather data about the temperatures in the deep waters of the Atlantic, or examine changes in the ocean's flow when a major storm approaches the Gulf of Mexico. Alexandra Isern, OOI Technology Director, commented on the program: 'All information will be transmitted on the Internet almost in real time. This will really change the way scientists work, but also how to understand the public's information. '

OOI has three main parts:

1. Establish an underground cable network connecting the seabeds stretching across many geographic areas

2. Relocate buoys that have data acquisition devices that can be deployed in harsh environments like the Southern Ocean.

3. Build or strengthen existing facilities to expand the network of observation stations on coastal areas.

The first equipment of the Ocean Observatories Initiative will be installed in 2009. (Photo: Nytime.com)

Some data collection stations will be built separately, far from the shore, mostly in the Arctic region of the Atlantic and Pacific. This is a region with extreme weather conditions, which is difficult for scientists to work on ships.

In American waters, there will also be observation systems on the East and West sides. A system off the Pacific Ocean, in the state of Oregon, will study sea level rise - a phenomenon that has led to the emergence of ' dead zones ' of marine life in recent summers. On the East Coast, off Marthas Vineyard in Massachusetts, a similar system will be set up along the continental shelf to gather information about the sea and seabed surface, where hot currents flow down from Canada.

Last August, the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, the OOI management unit, handed over to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts state $ 98 million to lead the deployment of the system. Buoy and observation, in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California in San Diego and University of Oregon Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences.

The unit will also spend about $ 130 million to build a regional observation post with a cross-over underground cable system across the Juan de Fuca construction layer, off the northwestern US coast.

Many oceanographers say OOI will transform the operation of this industry. Oscar Schofield - a marine biologist at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, studying the waters from New Jersey to the south of Chesapeake Bay - said: 'The great thing about oceanography is that we still still in the basic exploration phase. We have discovered many things from one of the most densely populated seas in the United States. OOI will take us to a higher level, where any scientist in the world will be able to survey any ocean. '

Other scientists participating in the OOI program also cite improved technologies - from bandwidth expansion to the ability to provide continuous power with wires or wind or solar energy for residential devices. Deep sea activities - as essential elements to improve the feasibility of this program. The increasing concerns of the international community about the warming of the earth, the storms and the life of marine creatures also make OOI more attentive.

Some experts hope this program will be financed more so that they can set up monsoon survey buoy systems and other events in the Indian Ocean. Professor John A. Orcutt at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who is controlling the linking of this new research program to the Internet, believes that the continuous delivery of new data to scientists worldwide, or even for teenagers who are accessing YouTube, will help create support to expand this project in the future.

He said: 'We want the public to see the oceans and oceans right now.'

William Yardley ( Dang Thieu translated - Saigon Computer News)
William Yardley is a reporter for the New York Times.

Some goals of the Ocean Observatories Initiative

• Continue to observe the oceans continuously for decades.
• Collect data in real time.
• Energy distribution for sensors operating on the seabed.
• Set the standard protocol for communication of sensors.
• Deploying self-propelled underwater devices to collect data or recharge other devices.
• Building a data management system for public access.

Source: Joint Oceanographic Institutions