Infrastructure
(short name)
SMARTBAY Observatory
(SmartBay)
Installation
(short name)
SmartBay Observatory
(SmartbayCable)
Location
Galway Bay, Ireland, Atlantic Ocean
Coordinates/Routes
53.22733°N - 9.26629°W
Bottom depth
23 m (Chart Datum)
Legal name of organisation
Marine Institute
Country
Ireland
SmartBay cabled underwater observatory has been operational since August 2015 in the ocean energy test site in Galway Bay,Ireland. The observatory includes a fibre optic data and power cable, a sub-sea sensor hosting platform (node) and a floating sea laboratory (SeaStation) which will be used to connect to energy conversion devices being tested at the 1/4 scale ocean energy test site. This set of equipment is being made available for projects requiring power and data connections for instrumentation underwater or at the surface.
The sub-sea sensor hosting platform includes interfaces (ports) capable of providing electrical power and 2-way optical or electrical (Serial or Ethernet) high speed communications to scientific instruments from R&D projects or sensor developers; the platform includes a set of permanently deployed instruments (CTD, DO2, Turb./Fluor., ADCP, HDTV, hydrophone, acoustic array).
Web site address: www.marine.ie
| Instrument | Measured Parameter(s) | Elevation / Depth | Sampling | Frequency of data recovery |
| icListen Hydrophone | Sound pressure levels | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| VEMCO fish tag detector | Fish tag counts | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| Water Quality Monitor | T, S, Pressure, DO2, Clorophyll, Turbidity | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| Acoustic Array | Sound pressure levels | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| CTD Idronaut | T, S, pressure | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| Eco FL WetLabs | Turbidity Fluoremetry | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| ADCP Teledyne RDI Workhorse Monitor | Current | 23 m depth, sampling the entire water column above | 30 s | Real time |
| HDTV Kongsberg PTZ | Image in visible wavelengths | 23 m depth | Continuous | Real time |
| Item | Quantity | Voltage DC | Comms | Equipment | Available |
| A | 4 | 400 (1.2 kW) | Optical |
1 x SeaStation, 1 x Acoustic
Array
|
2 |
| B | 2 | 24 (75 W) | Ethernet | icListen Hydrophone, Internal project | 0 |
| C | 2 | 15 (75 W) | Ethernet | Internal projects | 0 |
| D | 1 | 12 (75 W) | Ethernet | – | 1 |
| E | 4 | 15 (75 W) | Serial | 3 x [CTD, DO2, Turb/Fluor, WQM] | 1 |
| F | 2 | 12 (75 W) | Serial | VEMCO Fish Tag | 1 |
| G | 1 | 48 (600 W) | Serial | 1 x ADCP | 0 |
| H | 1 | 24 (75 W) | Coaxial | 1 x HDTV | 0 |
| I | 4 | 24 (75 W) | Serial | 2 x lights, internal project | 1 |
- Remote: the measuring system is implemented by the operator of the installation and the presence of the user group is not required,
- Partially remote: the presence of the user group is required at some stage e.g. installing and un-installing user’s equipment.
Unit of access (UA): month.
Access duration corresponds to the period of installing, operating and un-installing a measuring system by the users (partially remote access) or in his/her behalf by the access provider (remote access).
TNA projects supported by JERICO-NEXT:
The infrastructure includes the following data services: acquisition, storage, normalisation, presentation and visualisation and data standardisation. The infrastructures are being used by several Irish research bodies, universities and companies in research and development projects. Testing and validation of novel devices or instruments typically allow devices to move up TRLs 4 to 7.
In addition, Smartbay offers the following services: Power and data link to subsea instruments and sensors; environment with high power and high-speed data transmission capabilities; access to a floating sea laboratory (SeaStation) connected to the subsea observatory; testing and development of ocean energy device components in a ‘real world’ environment; support to surface or underwater marine research.
Users of the CPO will be offered a high-quality, end-to-end service including:
1) Pre-deployment testing on a dedicated, custom-built test rig to simulate subsea CPO conditions;
2) Dedicated operational team providing bench testing, deployment, operations and maintenance, recovery of the sensor/equipment;
3) Project specific ICT team for data acquisition and data transmission support;
4) Any deployment at the CPO will have access to the observatory’s or databuoy’s power, data acquisition and data transmission systems;
5) Real-time data transmission and visualization through a dedicated and secure log-in via the SBI online data portal. All data transmitted and visualized via SBI is encrypted to ensure client data security. A SOS (OGC compliant) web service is also available for automatic data retrieval.
Users the SmartBay infrastructure will be offersa high-quality, end-to-end service including; Pre-deployment testing on a dedicated, custom-built test rig to simulate subsea conditions. Dedicated operational team providing bench testing, deployment, operations and maintenance, recovery of the sensor/equipment. Data acquisition and data transmission support. Real-time data transmission and visualization through dedicated and secure VMware.
