Ocean Bottom Seismometer installed

The third reference instrument, an ocean bottom seismoter, was installed on November 4, 2026, by the team from the Madeira Oceanic Observatory using the tuna fishing vessel Ponta Calhau.

It is a DUNE-type OBS, designed and built at the Dom Luiz Institute. It is equipped with a 120-second (broadband) Güralp seismometer, a gyroscope for absolute orientation, temperature and pressure sensors, and biological traps for studying deep-sea bacteria. It is a free-fall deployment and buoyancy-ascent instrument.

The OBS was deployed at a depth of 2,400 meters, in a position that ensures the safety of the EllaLink cable even in the event of horizontal drift.

The station’s name is NEMO, one of the suggestions from the students in class 5G.

This marks a milestone for the ECHO project.