NEPTUNE Canada
Impacts
The NEPTUNE Canada network will produce tremendous benefits both for the ocean science community and Canada.
Benefits to international research
Plate tectonics
NEPTUNE Canada's plate-scale seismograph array will provide both episode-specific and long-term plate strain and stress-release information. This will help researchers advance plate tectonic theory.
Subduction dynamics
NEPTUNE Canada will help researchers pinpoint local earthquakes while monitoring seismic stresses. This will greatly benefit the study of Cascadia subduction dynamics.
Seabed fluids
Continuous and simultaneous measurements at widely separated sites will enable researchers to develop a much better understanding of fluid movements within the seabed and the interactions between fluid flows and tectonic events, mineral deposits, biotic communities, and ocean waters.
Climate change and marine ecosystems
The bottom-up view of ocean dynamics will help improve ocean forecast models and facilitate the study of how marine ecosystems respond to changes in ocean temperature, salinity, and circulation patterns.
Increased collaboration
NEPTUNE Canada's real-time access and interdisciplinary approach can produce a cultural shift in international marine science. In the past, ocean scientists have sometimes worked in isolation, relying on discrete and often proprietary observations. But with the NEPTUNE Canada network, shared live data will encourage collaboration. The project will also create unparalleled new opportunities for the public to interact with scientists and learn about their research.
Benefits to Canadians
Innovation
Many opportunities for commercial innovation are created as Canadian industries help NEPTUNE Canada grapple with unique technical challenges in communications, instrument control, sensor technologies, underwater connections, etc. The innovations we spark may have applications for many industry sectors, including subsea oil, port and coastal security, hydroelectric systems, sewage and industrial discharge management, hazardous site management and aquaculture.
Jobs
NEPTUNE Canada is creating jobs in information technology, engineering, research and support services. Indirectly, jobs are supported in the subsea, robotics, communications, education and tourism sectors. Over the 25 years of planned operation, the observatory will help sustain creation of many new job opportunities in these and related industry sectors.
Capacity building
NEPTUNE Canada is also helping lay foundations for the next generation of ocean scientists and technologists by creating new opportunities for technicians, graduate students and research assistants to "do science" and work on real-world applications.
Policy guidance
Research supported by the NEPTUNE Canada network will help policy makers make better-informed decisions in a wide range of public policy areas.
Ocean Resource Management
Our long-term data archive will help resource managers track critical stressors to our oceans, including:
- temperature and circulation changes
- carbon dioxide uptake by the oceans
- hydrate dissociation
- toxic algae blooms
- pollutant pathways
- changes to whale and fish populations and migration patterns
Understanding these stressors and their causes is more important now than ever, as we enter an era of uncertainty and global climate change.
Disaster mitigation
Seismic and tsunami hazards are significant on the west coast. NEPTUNE Canada will help scientists improve seismic hazards estimates, which can feed into requirements of our National Building Code. NEPTUNE Canada's array of seafloor pressure sensors will also help researchers refine their understanding of how tsunamis move through both deep ocean and coastal areas, improving risk assessment and reduction efforts by governments.
Response to human-caused disasters like ship collisions or oil spills will also be aided by improved knowledge of ocean currents, helping project the drift of disabled vessels, life rafts or pollutants.
