SPPIM

Type Oceanographic cruise
Ship Alis
Ship owner IRD
Dates 28/08/2018 - 16/09/2018
Chief scientist(s) HELLO Yann

LABORATOIRE GEOAZUR - UMR 7329 / UR082

250 rue Albert Einstein

CS 10269

Campus Azur

06905 Sophia-Antipolis

+33 (0)4 92 94 26 02

commesi@geoazur.unice.fr

https://www.oca.eu/fr/acc-geoazur
DOI 10.17600/18000519
Objective

Seismic imaging of the short-wavelength structure of Earth's mantle is required to address major questions of present-day mantle dynamics and the thermal evolution of our planet. Mantle plumes and subducting slabs, as seen in recent seismic tomography models, appear to change size and shape near 1000 km depth. Unfortunately, high-resolution imaging of this depth range remains elargely lusive due to lack of data from the oceans. Our team of seismologists and geodynamicists proposes an ambitious and technologically innovative project, that aims to image the South Pacific plumes and link their seismic signatures to analog and numerical geodynamic models. We shall exploit all existing seismological data from the region, including previous temporary land and ocean-bottom deployments, and supplement the dataset with recordings from a new type of instrument with a strong potential for acquiring unique and very precious data from previously unsampled oceanic regions: MERMAID floats.

Forty-five of these acoustic profiling floats were deployed during several campaigns and transits by the oceanographic vessel Alis from Nouméa to Tahiti in 2018, then by the oceanographic vessel Atalante further south on the Papeete-Nouméa route in 2019. Six additional floats have been deployed further east in the network by the R/V Mirai of the Japan Institute for Marine Science Research (Jamstec).

SPPIM 2018-2019. The 51 Mermaids are shown in yellow.

Data managed by SISMER

Bibliography

Publications

Nolet Guust, Simon Joel D., Bonnieux Sebastien (2024). How Accurately Are MERMAID Seismograms Located? Seismological Research Letters, 95(4), 2368-2374. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220230377


Pipatprathanporn Sirawich, Simons Frederik J (2024). Waveform modelling of hydroacoustic teleseismic earthquake records from autonomous Mermaid floats. Geophysical Journal International, 239(1), 136-154. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggae238 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00948/105993/


Pipatprathanporn Sirawich, Simons Frederik J. (2022). One year of sound recorded by a mermaid float in the Pacific: hydroacoustic earthquake signals and infrasonic ambient noise. Geophysical Journal International, 228(1), 193-212. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab296 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00833/94512/


Simon Joel D, Simons Frederik J, Irving Jessica C E (2022). Recording earthquakes for tomographic imaging of the mantle beneath the South Pacific by autonomous MERMAID floats. Geophysical Journal International, 228(1), 147-170. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab271 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00709/82086/


Simon Joel D., Simons Frederik J., Irving Jessica C. E. (2021). A MERMAID Miscellany: Seismoacoustic Signals beyond the P Wave. Seismological Research Letters, 92(6), 3657-3667. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1785/0220210052 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00833/94511/


Simon Joel D., Simons Frederik J., Nolet Guust (2020). Multiscale Estimation of Event Arrival Times and Their Uncertainties in Hydroacoustic Records from Autonomous Oceanic Floats. Bulletin Of The Seismological Society Of America, 110(3), 970-997. https://doi.org/10.1785/0120190173


Bonnieux Sebastien, Cazau Dorian, Mosser Sebastien, Blay-Fornarino Mireille, Hello Yann, Nolet Guust (2020). MeLa: A Programming Language for a New Multidisciplinary Oceanographic Float. Sensors, 20(21), 6081 (25p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.3390/s20216081 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00839/95054/


Nolet Guust, Hello Yann, Van Der Lee Suzan, Bonnieux Sebastien, Ruiz Mario C., Pazmino Nelson A., Deschamps Anne, Regnier Marc M., Font Yvonne, Chen Yongshan J., Simons Frederik J. (2019). Imaging the Galapagos mantle plume with an unconventional application of floating seismometers. Scientific Reports, 9, 1326 (12p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36835-w , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00833/94514/


Bonnieux Sebastien, Mosser Sebastien, Blay-Fornarino Mireille, Hello Yann, Nolet Guust (2019). Model driven programming of autonomous floats for multidisciplinary monitoring of the oceans. OCEANS 2019 - Marseille (IEEE).

References of Articles published in other Periodicals or Scientific Works acclaimed in the Field

Bonnieux, S., Cazau, D., Mosser, S., Blay-Fornarino, M., Hello, Y., & Nolet, G. (2020). MeLa: A Programming Language for a New Multidisciplinary Oceanographic Float. Sensors, 20(21), 6081. doi: 10.3390/s20216081

Bonnieux, S., Mosser, S., Blay-Fornarino, M., Hello, Y., & Nolet, G. (2019). Model driven programming of autonomous floats for multidisciplinary monitoring of the oceans. OCEANS 2019 - Marseille. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/OCEANSE.2019.8867453

References of Technical Reports

Hanafi-Portier Méissa, Samadi Sarah (2024). Les monts sous-marins de Polynésie Française. Etat des lieux des connaissances et recommandations scientifiques.


Karthikeyan Vishnu, Collot Julien, Etienne Samuel, Loubrieu Benoit, Patriat Martin, Vende-Leclerc Myriam, Tanguy Nina, Pertuisot Cecile, Soulard Benoit (2022). Base de données de sondeurs multifaisceaux et modèles bathymétriques de la Nouvelle-Calédonie - hors lagon. SGNC-2022(12). https://doi.org/10.13155/91834

References of Articles published in periodicals and magazines for the general public

Acoustic Today, Frederik J. Simons, Joel D. Simon, and Sirawich Pipatprathanporn, 2021. Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea: Recording Earthquakes with Autonomous Floats. https://geoweb.princeton.edu/people/simons/PDF/reprints/AT-2021.pdf

Science and the Sea, Damond Benningfield, December 13, 2020 MERMAIDS https://www.scienceandthesea.org/program/mermaids

Forbes, Robin Andrews, Feb 6, (2019) MERMAIDs Spy Huge Umbrella-Shaped Heat Source Beneath The Galápagos. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2019/02/06/mermaids-spy-huge-umbrella-shaped-heat-source-beneath-the-galapagos/?sh=7599d2933539

Physics Today, Alex Lopatka, 4 May (2019) Deploying seismometers where they're needed most: Underwater; https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.1.20190524a/full/. DOI:10.1063/PT.6.1.20190524a

Princeton University, by the Office of Communications, Feb. 4, (2019) MERMAIDs reveal secrets from below the ocean floor. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2019/02/04/mermaids-reveal-secrets-below-ocean-floor

Science, Erik Stokstad, 17 Apr (2019)These ocean floats can hear earthquakes, revealing mysterious structures deep inside Earth. MERMAIDs offer a cheap way to ?x-ray? Earth from remote places. https://www.science.org/content/article/these-ocean-floats-can-hear-earthquakes-revealing-mysterious-structures-deep-inside.

References of International Seminar Communications

Tom Garth (ISC) 2025 - Impact of OBS and MERMAID Observations on the Location Accuracy of Remote Oceanic Earthquakes, The Royal Astronomical Society, Ocean Bottom Geophysics: Progress and Perspectives

K. Sigloch, S. Bonnieux, Y. Hello (2023). Multidisciplinary, autonomous, Lagrangian floats for seismology, ocean acoustics and marine environmental science, EGU General Assembly (2023), Vienna; https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU23/EGU23-8362.html https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-8362

Namjesnik, D., Sigloch., K., Bonnieux S., Hello, Y., 1 Storchak, D., Simons, F. J., Simon, J.D. , Harris, J. Garth, T. (2023). Locating earthquakes recorded by MERMAIDS, independent divers floating in the ocean. EPOS SP / ORFEUS AdriaArray Workshop, Dubrovnik, Croatia http://orfeus-eu.org/other/workshops/

Joel D. Simon, Frederik J. Simons, Jessica C. E. Irving, The EarthScope-Oceans Consortium (2022). Global Seismology from Within the Oceans: Exploring the MERMAID Data Set Being Actively Recorded in the South Pacific. Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2022, Chiba, Japan URL: https://confit.atlas.jp/guide/print/jpgu2022/subject/SSS03-02/detail

Joel D. Simon, Yong Yu, Sirawich Pipatprathanporn, Frederik J. Simons (2022). The 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha`apai Eruption as Recorded by MERMAID. SSA Annual Meeting, Bellevue, WA, USA

K. Sigloch, Y. Hello, S. Bonnieux, G. Nolet (2022). Multi-disciplinary, autonomous underwater floats for recording seismic and hydroacoustic signals in the oceans. 2022-09-08 EMSO Marmara workshop, Marseille

K. Sigloch, Y. Hello, S. Bonnieux, G. Nolet, (2022). Sampling the oceans with seismo-acoustic floats - autonomous, long-lived, versatile. 2022-10-07 EPOS SP / ORFEUS Annual Observatory Meeting and Workshop 2022, Potsdam, Germany

Karin Sigloch, Yann Hello, Sebastien Bonnieux, Guust Nolet (2022)

autonomous, long-lived, versatile. 2022-11-09 Brazilian National Seismological Network (en visio)

K. Sigloch & the ESO Steering Group. (2022), UN Decade Project EarthScope Oceans: 300 Mermaids - towards global coverage of the oceans with seismo-acoustic floats. 2022-03-22 Argo/Ocean Decade Monaco

towards global coverage of the oceans with seismo-acoustic floats. 2022-03-22 Argo/Ocean Decade Monaco

Masayuki Obayashi (invited) (2021). Updates from the floating seismometer MERMAID array, Mini-seismo-2021 Seismology Frontiers

Joel D. Simon, Frederik J. Simons, Jessica C. E. Irving, Tim Ahern, The EarthScope-Oceans Consortium. (2021). Seismoacoustics in the South Pacific: Exploring the MERMAID Data Set and its Availability. AGU Fall Meeting[1], New Orleans, LA, USA. URL: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AGUFM.S55C0158S/abstract

Joel D. Simon, Jessica C E Irving, Sirawich Pipatprathanporn, Frederik Simons, The EarthScope-Oceans Consortium (2021). The 2021 M8.2 Chignik Earthquake as Seen by MERMAID Seismometers in the South Pacific Ocean. AGU Fall Meeting[2], New Orleans, LA, USA. URL: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021AGUFM.S55G0229S/abstract

Tim Ahern, Joel Simon, (2021). FDSN Framework Proposal for a GeoCSV format for rapidly changing parameters not handled well in SEED. IAGA-IASPEI Joint Scientific Assembly, India URL: http://fdsn.org/media/wg/V/2021/WGV_GeoCSV_Framework_Proposal.pdf

Bonnieux, S., Hello, Y., Sigloch, K., Phlippe, O., Rocca, F., & Nolet, G. (2021). Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers: Now Landing on the Ocean Bottom. AGU fall Meeting 2021 https://hal.science/hal-03555710

Masayuki Obayashi, Hiroko Sugioka, Yann Hello, Frederik Simons, Yongshun John Chen, Guust Nolet (2020). Seismic monitoring by autonomous floats to image Earth's interior, JpGU-AGU Joint Meeting 2020

Joel D. Simon, Frederik J. Simons, Jessica C. E. Irving, Guust Nolet, Yann Hello, Hiroko Sugioka, Masayuki Obayashi, Yongshun John Chen and Olivier Hyvernaud (2020). Seismic Sampling of the Mantle Under the South Pacific With a Drifting Array of Autonomous MERMAID Floats. AGU Fall Meeting URL: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020AGUFMDI0150016S/abstract

Frederik J. Simons, Guust Nolet,Yann Hello, Hiroko Sugioka, Masayuki Obayashi, Yongshun John Chen (2019). One Year, Fifteen Hundred MERMAID Seismograms from the South Pacific AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA URL: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019AGUFMDI11A..03S/abstract

Bonnieux, S., Blay-Fornarino, M., Mosser, S., Hello, Y., & Nolet, G. (2019). Easy development of monitoring applications for an autonomous float. AGU fall meeting 2019 https://hal.science/hal-03555745

References of National Seminar Communications

Joel D. Simon, Frederik J Simons, Jessica C. E. Irving, Sirawich Pipatprathanporn, Yong Yu, Masayuki Obayashi, The EarthScope-Oceans Consortium (2023). MERMAID Capture Sustained and Coherent Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruptive Signals Propagating Across the South Pacific Ocean. GAGE/SAGE Community Science Workshop, Pasadena, CA, USA. URL: https://www.earthscope.org/app/uploads/2023/03/Simon.pdf

Karin Sigloch, Sébastien Bonnieux, Yann Hello, Guust Nolet (2023). Flotteurs sismo-acoustiques, de l'innovation à l'instrumentation globale des oceans. 2023-01-25 CNRS Groupe de Recherche Océans et Mer, Paris

Sébastien Bonnieux, Karin Sigloch, Guust Nolet, Yann Hello, Olivier Philippe, Mireille Blay-Fornarino et Sébastien Mosser (2023). Développer des applications embarquées pour un instrument autonome à l'écoute des océans. 2023-04-07 CNRS Groupes de Recherche OMER & GSOC workshop, Paris

Masayuki Obayashi, Junko Yoshimitsu, Hiroko Sugioka, Joel D. Simon, Yu Yong (2022). The Explosive Hunga Tonga Eruption observed by an Array of Hydroacoustic MERMAID Floats, Seismological Society of Japan 2022 fall meeting

Joel D Simon, Yong Yu, Sirawich Pipatprathanporn, Jessica C E Irving, Frederik J Simons (2022). The 15 January 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Eruption as Recorded by MERMAID. SAGE/GAGE Community Science Workshop, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. URL: https://www.iris.edu/hq/files/workshops/2022/06/csw/abstracts/sage_gage_abstract_2022.pdf

Masayuki Obayashi, Hiroko Sugioka, Junko Yoshimitsu (2021). Two-year seismic observation by hydrophone floats, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2021

Joel D. Simon, Frederik J. Simons, Jessica C. E. Irving (2021). Recording Earthquakes in the South Pacific With a Drifting Array of Autonomous MERMAID Floats. IRIS Marine Seismology Symposium.

K Sigloch (2020). Sondage de la structure interne de la Terre avec des sismomètres en mer 2020-12-11 Semaine scientifique de l'Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice

Hiroko Sugioka, Masayuki Obayashi (2019). Installation of a floating hydrophone system within the SOFAR channel, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2019

Masayuki Obayashi, Hiroko Sugioka, Hajime Shiobara (2019). Seismic monitoring by an autonomous robotic float equipped with a hydrophone: MERMAID, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2019

Masayuki Obayashi, Shingo Watada, Hiroko Sugioka. (2019). Drifting float measurement of pressure change by tsunami, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2019

Videodocuments

Des robots-sirénes pour observer les profondeurs de la terre et de nos océans (2020) Site ERC. https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/stories/des-robots-sirénes-pour-observer-les-profondeurs-de-la-terre-et-de-nos-océans.

DEA or MASTER 2 using campaign data

Satoshi MURAKAMI (Master) (2022), Waveform analysis for the 2022 Hunga-Tonga eruption using MERMAIDs data

Thesis using campaign data

Panetier Aurélie (2023). Shipborne Global Navigation Satellite Systems for Offshore Atmospheric Water Vapor Monitoring. PhD Thesis, ENSTA Bretagne.


Yuko KONDO (PhD), (2022), A tomographic study using the data from ocean bottom seismometers and MERMAIDs

Simon Joel David (2020). Recording Earthquakes in the Oceans for Global Seismic Tomography by Freely-Drifting Robots. PhD Thesis, University Princeton.


Bonnieux, S. PHD (2020). Flotteur pour la surveillance pluridisciplinaire de l'environnement marin. De l'expertise métier aux codes embarqués. Université Côte d'Azur. https://www.theses.fr/2020COAZ4072

Joel David Simon, June (2020) RECORDING EARTHQUAKES IN THE OCEANS FOR GLOBAL SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY BY FREELY-DRIFTING ROBOTS, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2428388003/F25E2C736AB142F0PQ