SubC Control Ltd. has been awarded a three-year contract from the University of Washington to provide a Seafloor High Definition video camera to the Regional Scale Nodes (RSN) component of the National Science Foundation funded Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). The University of Washington selected SubC’s 1Cam underwater camera following a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process evaluating the available options based on technological capability, proven reliability, and cost.

All of the major camera players were bidding on this project.

The University of Washington-led RSN is the 900-km cabled ocean observatory component of the OOI now under construction in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. The OOI is planned as a networked infrastructure of science-driven sensor systems to measure the physical, chemical, geological and biological variables in the ocean and seafloor. As a fully integrated system, OOI will collect and disseminate data on coastal, regional, and global scales. Through a unique cyberinfrastructure, OOI will make ocean-observing data available to anyone with an internet connection. Greater knowledge of the ocean’s interrelated systems is vital for increased understanding of their effects on biodiversity, climate, ocean and coastal ecosystems, and environmental health.

SubC’s 1Cam will be installed as part of a networked array of instruments deployed near an active underwater volcano, Axial Seamount, at a water depth of approximately 1600 m to image biological activity, hydrothermal vent formation, and other visible phenomena. The complete system, consisting of the 1Cam with pan/tilt and lighting, will be interfaced with the RSN’s fiber-optic cabled array, which will provide power and high-bandwidth, two-way, real-time communications via a shore station in Oregon.

For more information on the OOI please visit the OOI Websites (www.oceanobservatories.org and www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu) and follow OOI on Facebook and Twitter.