The OOI has three major observatory elements linked together by instrument, infrastructure, and an information management system.
Global Ocean Arrays
Moored arrays and autonomous vehicles provide time-series observations and mesoscale spatial sampling at sparsely sampled, high-latitude regions critical to our understanding of climate, the carbon cycle, and ocean circulation. (Irminger Sea and Station Papa. Data remain available from decommissioned arrays in the Argentine Basin and Southern Ocean).
Regional Cabled Array
Fiber-optic cables off the Oregon coast provide unprecedented power, bandwidth, and communication to seafloor instrumentation and profiler moorings. This array makes it possible to monitor volcanic and hydrothermal activity, methane seeps, earthquakes, and myriad ocean processes in coastal and blue water environments.
Coastal Arrays
Cross-shelf moored arrays and autonomous vehicles observe the dynamic coastal environment, enabling examination of upwelling, shelf break fronts, and cross-shelf exchanges. (Endurance and Pioneer Arrays).