Ocean Laboratory at undersea ranges concept

There is much interest world wide in establishing fixed ocean data collection sites commonly referred to as “Ocean Observatories”, “Ocean Laboratories”, “Acoustic Observatories”, etc. Typically these sites consist of instrumentation in the water that is cabled back to a shore-based facility where the data is collected, processed and further distributed to end users. This “infrastructure”) is normally very expensive to procure and install, particularly if the chosen site is a high-risk environment from an in-water system perspective i.e. bottom fishing, storm surges, topographical discontinuities, etc. The US Navy has installed and operates a number of undersea ranges around the world. The primary function of the ranges is to provide Time Space Position Information (TSPI) on Undersea Warfare (USW) vehicles/systems for the purpose of Fleet Training and Test and Evaluation (T&E). The concept proposed is to leverage these existing undersea ranges´ infrastructure, which includes sensors, cables, signal processors, computers, personnel and ships, with additional functions and capabilities to allow full spectrum (acoustic and non-acoustic) environmental measurements to be conducted. The advantage is two-fold: first, the concept allows the development of Ocean Laboratories at a lower cost due to the sharing of common infrastructure that already exists; and second, added capability/functionality at the ranges would enhance the training and T&E conducted there. This paper discusses the basic infrastructure that is currently available at undersea range locations, enhancements that could be made to support the Ocean Laboratory concept, and potential uses/applications of the site. These uses include marine mammal detection and tracking, acoustic propagation studies, and seismic measurements