The University of Hawaii's ALOHA Cabled Observatory is located 100 km north of the island of Oahu, Hawaii (22 45'N, 158W) in the North Pacific Ocean. It provides real-time oceanographic observations from a depth of about 4,800 m via a submarine fiber optic cable that comes ashore at Makaha on Oahu. In addition to ocean sounds, continuous observations of temperature, salinity, and ocean currents are obtained and shared with the oceanographic community and the general public.
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5 km beneath the surface of the ocean, the Aloha Cabled Observatory brings an infrequently observed and little understood habitat into light. Through cables and oceanographic instruments, scientists are able to look at the seafloor and in a way they rarely can: instantly and for years to come.
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Connecting Station ALOHA to scientists on Oahu is a retired AT&T telephone cable. The observatory has the capacity to listen to ocean through hydrophones. The temperature and salinity in the water are measured. Through acoustic sensing, the current profiles above the seafloor are being plotted. This data is sent back to Oahu at the speed of light into the hands of those who analyze it to discover patterns of ocean circulation, ocean-atmosphere interactions and climate change.
The ACO
The ALOHA Cabled Observatory (ACO) is a system of hardware and software that extends electric power and the Internet offshore, supporting sustained real-time observations in the deep ocean. The ACO is connected to Oahu, Hawaii by the HAW-4 telecommunications cable transferred to the project by AT&T in 2007.