Closing the Ocean Data Gap by combined fibre-optics, SMART cable sensing and novel data management strategies.

SAFAtor is planned as a major infrastructure project (30 millions Euros) of the German Helmholtz Association which aims at effectively closing the observational gap in the continental shelf, slope, and deep oceans by using new cable technologies.  SAFAtor (SMART Cables And Fiber-optic Sensing Amphibious Demonstrator) will have three main outcomes: 1) SAFAtor will establish DAS permanent offshore monitoring at three existing Plate Boundary Observatories located in coastal areas (Northern Chile, the Marmara Sea and Etna volcano, see the presentation of Krawczyk et al.). This integration will build on outcomes from the European SUBMERSE project (to finish in 2026) and will enable unprecedented monitoring of tectonic and volcanic events (landslides, observation of the preparation phase of strong earthquakes on submarine faults close to the coast, new early warning systems for earthquakes and tsunamis, and submarine volcanic processes).  2) SAFAtor will provide a working demonstrator by equipping a submarine telecommunication cable with robust sensor technology packages to measure temperature, absolute pressure and ground acceleration on the sea floor. The location of the demonstrator cable will be discussed with the international community and chosen to maximize scientific exploitation. 3) SAFAtor will finally develop a FAIR infrastructure necessary to process, archive and distribute these new DAS and cable data, and enable the global user community to select and process the data services in a user-friendly and interoperable way. The development of these novel DAS data management strategies has already started (EU project GeoInquire https://www.geo-inquire.eu). This new data infrastructure will be integrated into national German data services (Helmholtz Data-Hub, NFDI4Earth) and contribute to European data infrastructures (e.g., EPOS, EMSO, Copernicus Marine Services). Such new infrastructure and data services have the potential to profoundly change geohazards warning systems, ocean and marine life observations and revolutionize the development of models used to analyze and predict climate change and the variability of ocean currents.