Galway Bay Cabled Observatory, Ireland

CPO is a cabled underwater observatory, operational since August 2015 in the ocean energy test site in Galway Bay (Galway Bay Marine And Renewable Energies Test Site - GB MARETS, previously known as SmartBay Marine Test and Validation Facility - SMARTBAY TDS). The observatory includes a fibre optic data and power cable and a sub-sea sensor hosting platform (node) 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, WQM, ADCP, HDTV, hydrophone, acoustic array).