Wiring the Juan de Fuca Plate for Science: The Neptune System

NEPTUNE will “wire” the Juan de Fuca Plate in the northeast Pacific Ocean. It will enable in-depth study of life in extreme environments, plate tectonics, oceanography, and fisheries, to name but a few of the many topics. This will be accomplished by means of a multi-node submarine fiber-optic/power cable network deployed around the plate. It will provide power for the instrumentation as well as make seafloor sensors and interactive experiments easily accessible via the Internet to researchers, educators, and the public around the globe. The NEPTUNE Project is beginning its development phase. The many and varied issues associated with the infrastructure technical design are discussed, including power, communications, and data management and archiving.