Scientific application of ARENA networks

A new scientific submarine cable network named ARENA (advanced real-time earth monitoring network in the area) will be planed to encircle Japanese island and cross several tectonic plates in Japan. ARENA network will provide researchers a long-term, real-time, wide-bandwidth infrastructure for multidisciplinary seafloor observation in the deep sea to explore problems unapproachable with existing methods. This observatory network consists of many observation nodes with 50 km intervals, and each node is connected with many kinds of sensor for studies within a wide spectrum of scientific field and for the disaster-related measures to earthquake, tsunami and volcano. This paper will describe new observation ideas using ARENA has been discussed at the committee organized by the Research Institute for Ocean Economics (RIOE) and JAMSTEC.