Alcatel announced Monday it has signed, in partnership with Elettra, a 5-million euro ($6.3 million) contract with Italy's Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare for a project to deploy a submarine cable network for research activities carried out via the NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory telescope.
Elettra is a Telecom Italia Group company specializing in survey, installation and maintenance of submarine cable networks.
The new cable system will enable data transmission from NEMO to the researchers' stations as they investigate data for monitoring astrophysical and geophysical phenomena such as bioluminescence, the marine environment and seismic activity.
Alcatel's undersea network also will offer a platform for bringing high bandwidth connectivity and power to the INFN's prototype undersea neutrino telescope, located off the coast of Sicily, at sea depths of 3,500 meters (11,375 feet).
With an onshore station based in Portopalo di Capo Passero, in Siracusa – not far from the INFN's South National Laboratories in Catania – NEMO technicians will work toward its final configuration as a detector of neutrinos.
Neutrinos are elementary particles that can travel great distances through the universe without being affected by magnetic fields or absorbed by collisions with other particles. This characteristic makes them ideal for investigating certain phenomena occurring in the universe, because they can be traced back to their emitting source.
To detect the light and calculate the neutrino directions with the best possible angular accuracy, NEMO will rely on more than 4,000 photo-multiplier sensors serving as lenses to collect data on multiple subjects, including colliding galaxies and exploding stars.
The instrument also will supply the technological infrastructure for oceanographic and geophysical studies, such as earthquake monitoring and predictions.
"This project will offer to INFN and to the Italian research community advanced applications to implement new research models for astrophysical subjects and also enhancing other sciences such as seismology and the predictability of geophysical events," said Emilio Migneco, director of the INFN NEMO project.
"This new achievement further confirms Alcatel's ability to meet traditional and new market demands leveraging a recognized expertise in the submarine market," said Jean Godeluck, president of Alcatel's submarine network activities.
"Submarine networks are gaining momentum in supporting scientific installations thanks to the versatility they offer both in terms of connectivity and power distribution," Godeluck added.
Alcatel will design, manufacture and commission the submarine cable system, based on dense wavelength division multiplexing technology, with the ability to be upgraded easily and cost-effectively in the future.
Elettra will design the route and perform surveys and installation of the submarine cable system.
