About LoVe

The Lofoten-Vesterålen Ocean Observatory (LoVe Ocean) is a cabled ocean observatory with additional autonomous nodes. LoVe Ocean is located in a highly productive costal shelf-slope area, and in an environment sensitive to external stressors. LoVe Ocean is a multi-purpose observatory network with scientific nodes forming a westward transect.

The scientific nodes are equipped with a range of chemical, physical, and biological sensors. Data from the sensors are streamed continuously to the onshore infrastructure through fiber optic subsea cables and made publicly available through OpenDAP and the observatory data portal. See “Data Access” for more information on how to access LoVe Ocean data.

LoVe welcomes the use of infrastructure data and encourages research and technology collaborations. For more information see “Innovation” or “Science” and contact the management team.

LoVe Infrastructure

LoVe Ocean consists of five cabled and two autonomous scientific nodes. The autonomous nodes communicate with surface vehicles and the cabled infrastructure through acoustic communication. Most scientific nodes include a separate satellite with passive acoustics and imaging. Nodes 4 and 5 also include a subsea mooring with a range of sensors distributed throughout the water column. The base infrastructure consists of a fiber optic high voltage cable (3kV AC) and three subsea distribution units, distributing power (230 V) and fibers to the scientific nodes.

Land infrastructure and Node 1 consisting of one SDU and one scientific node became operational in 2013. Subsea fiber optic power cables and SDU were delivered by NEXANS Norway, and the scientific node with sensors by METAS. Additional fiber optic cables and SDUs delivered by Siemens Subsea were deployed in 2018. New scientific nodes and moorings are delivered by develogic/IMARI and deployed in 2019/2020. In addition to Node 1, Nodes 3, 4, 5, and 7 with moorings are planned to be operational from August/September 2020.

Basic overview of sensors on LoVe Ocean Scientific Nodes