The mass and flow fields from June 2006 to May 2009 in the Calypso Deep (bottom depth ~5.2 km) are investigated using eddy-resolving surface-to-bottom hydrography (station grid spacing ~0.2 degrees) and two tall moorings yielding current-meter records at depths from 700 m to near bottom. A salty warm lens (excess core salinity and temperature are ~0.01 and 0.025 degrees C relative to the surrounding water) of Cretan Deep Water with a core at ~3000 m and a horizontal (vertical) scale of ~50 km (1.5 km) is identified in June 2006 to be locked over the trough. The lens coincides with local maxima in dissolved oxygen. In October 2006 the salinity content of the lens and of all deeper layers is increased; the oxygen maxima are shifted to the bottom layers, indicating an episodic intrusion of higher-density ventilated Adriatic water. The circulation changes from anticyclonic at all depths in June 2006 to cyclonic below ~2.5 km in October 2006, whereas after January 2007 it is cyclonic at all instrumented depths. The measured currents are weak (mean speeds < 5 cm s(-1)) and persistent in direction, being mostly along the bottom topography at all current-meter depths. After October 2006, the lens erodes due to salt/heat loss caused predominantly by lateral (intrusive) mixing, which works from the outside toward the lens center. The horizontal diffusivity is on the order of ~10 m(2) s(-1), near the center of the lens, and ~10(2) to 10(3) m(2) s(-1), at its periphery, with an average error ~15 times the diffusivity value. In the deepest part of the trough and in periods of predominance of vertical mixing the vertical diffusivity at 4400 m is ~(4 +/- 3) x 10(-3) m(2) s(-1).

The first prototype of a photo-detection unit of the future KM3NeT neutrino telescope has been deployed in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea. This digital optical module has a novel design with a very large photocathode area segmented by the use of 31 three inch photomultiplier tubes. It has been integrated in the ANTARES detector for in-situ testing and validation. This paper reports on the first months of data taking and rate measurements. The analysis results highlight the capabilities of the new module design in terms of background suppression and signal recognition. The directionality of the optical module enables the recognition of multiple Cherenkov photons from the same $$^{40}$$ K decay and the localisation of bioluminescent activity in the neighbourhood. The single unit can cleanly identify atmospheric muons and provide sensitivity to the muon arrival directions.

A recent analysis of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data provided evidence for a high-intensity emission of high-energy gamma rays with a E−2 spectrum from two large areas, spanning 50° above and below the Galactic centre (the “Fermi bubbles”). A hadronic mechanism was proposed for this gamma-ray emission making the Fermi bubbles promising source candidates of high-energy neutrino emission. In this work Monte Carlo simulations regarding the detectability of high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles with the future multi-km3 neutrino telescope KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea are presented. Under the hypothesis that the gamma-ray emission is completely due to hadronic processes, the results indicate that neutrinos from the bubbles could be discovered in about one year of operation, for a neutrino spectrum with a cutoff at 100TeV and a detector with about 6km3 of instrumented volume. The effect of a possible lower cutoff is also considered.

Detection of high-energy neutrinos from distant astrophysical sources will open a new window on the Universe. The detection principle exploits the measurement of Cherenkov light emitted by charged particles resulting from neutrino interactions in the matter containing the telescope. A novel multi-PMT digital optical module (DOM) was developed to contain 31 3-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In order to maximize the detector sensitivity, each PMT will be surrounded by an expansion cone which collects photons that would otherwise miss the photocathode. Results for various angles of incidence with respect to the PMT surface indicate an increase in collection efficiency by 30% on average for angles up to 45° with respect to the perpendicular. Ray-tracing calculations could reproduce the measurements, allowing to estimate an increase in the overall photocathode sensitivity, integrated over all angles of incidence, by 27% (for a single PMT). Prototype DOMs, being built by the KM3NeT consortium, will be equipped with these expansion cones.

The KM3NeT readout concept is based on a point-to-point optical network connecting the 10,000 optical modules in the deep-sea neutrino telescope with the shore station. The numerous fiber optic channels arriving at the shore station will be concentrated on the shore electronics systems, which will receive, merge and time order the data, and send them to the DAQ system. Although the network functionality is bi-directional, the physical channel allocation is asymmetric; most channels are assigned to the data reception and only a few channels are used for control with data transport from shore to the telescope. We will discuss the FPGA based platform systems for the shore station and the appropriate firmware implementation for the data gathering and broadcast demands of a neutrino telescope. We will present our experiences based on FPGA evaluation platforms suitable to build a demonstrator of the KM3NeT shore station.

The framework for the KM3NeT shore DAQ system is based on the Internet Communications Engine, ICE. The task of the system includes control, data acquisition and processing, pre-selection of events for storage and further processing and on-line monitoring of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope. We describe the overall shore DAQ system and discuss in particular the processing, storing and monitoring tasks. We present our experience with implementations for the DAQ systems which have been built to support the foreseen demonstrator of the KM3NeT shore station.

To measure variations of zenith dependence of sedimentation/bio-fouling on the optical modules (OMs) as considered by the KM3NeT consortium in the deep sea, we have used a grid of photodiodes distributed inside the glass sphere to measure the light intensity of two light sources located outside the glass sphere on a fixed position. The method is described and the data collected during the last three years in depths from 3100 m down to 5100 m, in the southeast Ionian sea, at sites near Pylos, Peloponnese, Greece, are discussed.

The long optical base transmissometer (LAMS—Long Arm Marine Spectrophotometer) constructed in 2008 by NESTOR group is described. The data of the recent water transparency measurements in the NESTOR site and in the Capo Passero site in the wavelength range 378–522nm are presented

A long optical base line spectrophotometer designed to measure light transmission in deep sea waters is described. The variable optical path length allows measurements without the need for absolute or external calibration. The spectrophotometer uses eight groups of uncollimated light sources emitting in the range 370–530nm and was deployed at various depths at two locations in the Ionian Sea that are candidate sites for a future underwater neutrino telescope. Light transmission spectra at the two locations are presented and compared.

A critical review of the available optical calibration techniques is given in the context of the Neutrino Burst Experiment. We will discuss the effects of the optical properties of water on different candidate light sources and the challenges from an engineering point of view. The merits of candidate light sources will be compared.