Concept design of satellite communications system for next generation marine observation: Broadband IP network down to underwater

Importance of marine observations and developments has been increasingly recognized as a key to many grand challenges of human beings such as development of mineral resources under seafloor, global climate change, etc. The amount of data obtained by marine devices is increasing because many kinds of data from simple ones like temperature to video image and scanned image of seabed are needed for such applications. In addition, real-time observation is required for secure operation of underwater facilities such as underwater oil wells. It is also required for rapid analysis of scientific data such as complex three-dimensional acoustic geological data. On the other hand, communication net-works for marine observations to carry huge data in real-time has not been realized. This paper describes the initial study result of experimental broadband satellite communication systems for next generation marine observations.