A detailed understanding of the environmental conditions at the various regions of the vent system will be constructed with real-time in-situ measurements of pH, salinity, temperature, chemical composition of seawater, sound intensity, and light intensity taken at regular space intervals around and above regions of the vent system.

Before detailed research regarding the energy, space, and predatory relationships both between the vent organisms and with the physical environment can begin, a detailed model of the environmental conditions within which these relationships exist must be constructed. An understanding of the flow of chemicals through the system is essential to the study of the metabolism of the thermophiles that are the foundation of the vent ecosystem, and understanding the complex relationships between vent organisms is founded in understanding the environmental background against which they occur. This model will therefore serve as the foundation for almost all further biological vent studies, as it provides the baseline against which all other observations are set.

A Spiral Sensor Array will be constructed in an area of the vent system. Initial data for the sensor system will be gathered by the Three Sisters.These sensors will relay real time data of pH, salinity, chemical composition, temperature, and light intensity to a central receiver, which will then relay the data to the habitat. The sensors will use technologies designed for the extreme pressures and temperature of the vent environment, such as the pH probe developed by Nadine Le Bris, et al. for hydrothermal vent research . Robots and submersibles will stay out of the array, both to avoid damage to it and to maintain undisturbed conditions for the environmental readings. This array will remain in place for the foreseeable life of Atlantis II, as it will be useful not only in understanding the normal environmental conditions of the vent system, but also in recording the environmental effects of extreme events, such as eruptions, in the vent field.

To supplement these real-time measurements, robots Tug and Superman and the manned submersible EVE will take similar measurements wherever they are in the vent system. These will also be capable of collecting water samples and returning them to the habitat for more detailed analysis in the lab.