image: Johnsons Dock is the proposed site for the ONC-designed cabled observatory which will be put
together and deployed upon arrival at Juan Carlos I (JCI).
Credit: Ocean Networks Canada
European and Canadian experts in polar observation join forces in a new partnership that will allow Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) to operate an underwater observatory at the Spanish Antarctic Base Juan Carlos I.
The observatory will be managed by the Marine Technology Unit (UTM) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and will provide near-real-time data on oceanic conditions throughout the year. This marks the first time that ONC expands its ocean monitoring beyond Canadian waters.
This partnership between the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the ONC, a University of Victoria initiative, will advance scientific understanding of one of the most under-observed parts of the planet, the Southern Ocean, or the Antarctic Ocean.
The Spanish polar research vessel Hespérides that is transporting the ONC observatory is enroute to the Spanish Antarctic station, Juan Carlos I, located on Livingstone Island in the South Shetlands Archipelago that is north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is also carrying two ONC deep-sea Argo floats that will be deployed during transit in the Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean.
The Hespérides, which departed Barcelona last fall, is scheduled to depart the Argentina port at Ushuaia this week and reach Juan Carlos I in Antarctica later this month.
ONC President and Chief Executive Officer Kate Moran says this partnership marks a tremendous milestone in polar scientific collaboration.
“Ocean Networks Canada has been monitoring Arctic conditions since 2012 through its network of Indigenous community-led and remote coastal observatories that provide continuous ocean data, available to all, through the Oceans 3.0 data portal on the ONC website,” she says.
“ONC’s expertise in designing and successfully operating underwater observatories able to withstand harsh polar conditions will contribute to Spain’s scientific expertise in monitoring Antarctica, a continent that is critical to this planet’s climate system, and is undergoing rapid, consequential changes that we need to understand.”
Today’s announcement from ONC and CSIC follows a recent call for the urgent expansion of ocean monitoring in the Southern Ocean. In a joint statement released at the 2023 Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) Symposium, 300 scientists from 25 nations said that “the chronic lack of observations for the Southern Ocean challenges our ability to detect and assess the consequences of change.”
Jordi Sorribas Cervantes, director of the Unit of Marine Technology of the CSIC says the crew will construct and deploy the observatory on arrival as part of the activities of the 2023-24 Spanish Antarctic Campaign.
“This partnership with Ocean Networks Canada will provide vital ocean science data in the Southern Ocean, not least because the new observatory will operate year-round outside of the station’s staffed summer months,” he says. “Having access to this near continuous data, from anywhere in the world, will help meet the current data gap challenge in the Southern Ocean.”
The proposed site of the cabled seafloor observatory is in a small embayment called Johnsons Dock with a maximum depth of 25 metres (Figure 1). It is modeled on one of ONC’s Arctic observatories at Gascoyne Inlet, and will use Iridium satellite to transmit the data every 30 minutes to ONC for processing, archival and distribution.
The observatory will consist of a CTD scientific instrument that measues conductivity, temperature and depth. Additional sensors will track dissolved oxygen concentrations as well as optical properties including turbidity and chlorophyll-a that are important for monitoring seawater quality at this location where freshwater glacier melt and ocean water meet.
The observatory along with ONC’s two autonomous deep Argo floats will help monitor the changing biogeochemical and physical ocean processes in this under-observed, sensitive region.
Learn more about ONC’s recent Argo float deployments and world-leading ocean observatories.
Track the live passage of the Hespérides on its journey to the Spanish Antarctic station, Juan Carlos I.
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is the largest public research institution in Spain and one of the most renowned institutions in the European Research Area. The CSIC’s Unit of Marine Technology Unit manages the Spanish Antarctic station Juan Carlos I and Camp Byers on Livingston Island, and also coordinates the overall logistics of the Spanish Antarctic campaign.
Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates world-leading observatories in the deep ocean, coastal waters and land of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic coasts of Canada. ONC’s cabled observatories supply continuous power and internet connectivity to scientific instruments, cameras and 12,000-plus ocean sensors. ONC also operates ocean mobile and land-based assets, including coastal radar. ONC, an initiative of the University of Victoria, is supported by the Government of Canada, and is one of the country’s major research facilities.