9724465 Duennebier This project will enhance the safety and utility of an undersea observatory being installed off Hawaii named HUGO - Hawaii Undersea Geo Observatory. The main components of HUGO, including the shore station, main cable installation between the Big Island and Loihi, and the junction box, are being provided by OCE. The 45 km cable was donated to the University by AT&T. Because Loihi is an active volcano, and because it is desirable for HUGO to survive as long as possible, the junction box termination of the main cable will be placed in a relatively quiet region about one mile from the area most active during the July-August, 1996, volcanic event. Funds are provided to build and install a HUGO Multiplexing Node (Mux) to be connected to the junction box and placed within the active area. This Mux will immediately provide a connection point for more than 11 experiments within the active area, with a potential for expanding to an additional 38 experiments at a later time. Should Loihi activity destroy individual experiments or this MUX, replacement will be relatively simple compared to replacing many cables back to the junction box. HUGO will be one of the world's first true ocean floor observatories, supplying the infrastructure necessary for scientists from many disciplines to perform experiments at a particularly interesting and dynamic location. HUGO will have the potential to accommodate more than 60 experiments, supplying 5 kW of electrical power to the summit junction box, and collecting real-time data over five optical fibers at nominal rates of 2,000 samples/sec per experiment over a 45 km electro-optical cable.
