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A Decade of High-resolution Ocean Bottom Pressure Measurements in the Northeast Pacific --- The NEPTUNE Observatory Turns 10 years old
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  • Martin Heesemann,
  • Joseph Farrugia,
  • Earl Davis,
  • Richard Thomson,
  • Steven Mihaly,
  • Alexander Rabinovich,
  • Isaac Fine
Martin Heesemann
Ocean Networks Canada

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Joseph Farrugia
Ocean Networks Canada
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Earl Davis
Geological Survey of Canada, Pacific Geoscience Centre
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Richard Thomson
Inst Ocean Sciences
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Steven Mihaly
University of Victoria
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Alexander Rabinovich
Instituto de Estudos do Mar Almirante Paulo Moreira
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Isaac Fine
Institute of Ocean Sciences
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Abstract

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC; http://www.oceannetworks.ca/) operates the multidisciplinary NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the west coast of Canada and an increasing number of miniature ocean observatories, such as in the Canadian Arctic. All data collected by these observatories are permanently archived and publicly available through ONC’s Oceans 2.0 data portal. Much of the data are related to marine geohazards, such as earthquakes, submarine landslides and tsunamis and are delivered in real-time, including to early warning centers. The NEPTUNE cabled observatory consists of an approximately 800-km long cable loop deployed off the west coast of Vancouver Island that covers the coastal zone, the northern part of the Cascadia subduction zone, Cascadia Basin and the Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. The observatory includes several high-precision bottom pressure recorders (BPRs) at each of its five active nodes. On September 30, 2009, just days after the first instruments were installed, six BPRs on the array recorded tsunami waves of 2.5 to 6 cm amplitude originating with the Mw 8.1 Samoa earthquake. The Samoan tsunami was followed by several other events recorded by the network, including those of the 2010 Chilean tsunami, the 2011 Tōhoku-Oki tsunami, and the 2012 Haida Gwaii tsunami. We will review the decade of open-access bottom pressure recorder data, instrument development, and research findings across many disciplines and give an outlook for future developments.