Illuminating seafloor faults and ocean dynamics with dark fiber distributed acoustic sensing

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6469) ◽  
pp. 1103-1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel J. Lindsey ◽  
T. Craig Dawe ◽  
Jonathan B. Ajo-Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Acoustic Sensing ◽  
Ocean Surface Waves ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Northern Pacific ◽  
Distributed Acoustic Sensing ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Array Recordings

Distributed fiber-optic sensing technology coupled to existing subsea cables (dark fiber) allows observation of ocean and solid earth phenomena. We used an optical fiber from the cable supporting the Monterey Accelerated Research System during a 4-day maintenance period with a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) instrument operating onshore, creating a ~10,000-component, 20-kilometer-long seismic array. Recordings of a minor earthquake wavefield identified multiple submarine fault zones. Ambient noise was dominated by shoaling ocean surface waves but also contained observations of in situ secondary microseism generation, post–low-tide bores, storm-induced sediment transport, infragravity waves, and breaking internal waves. DAS amplitudes in the microseism band tracked sea-state dynamics during a storm cycle in the northern Pacific. These observations highlight this method’s potential for marine geophysics.

Towards multi-method geophysical sensing on submarine cables 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongwen Zhan ◽  
Mattia Cantono ◽  
Jorge Castellanos ◽  
Miguel González Herráez ◽  
Zhensheng Jia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Laser Interferometry ◽  
Distributed Sensing ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Submarine Cable ◽  
Geophysical Research ◽  
Acoustic Sensing ◽  
Rayleigh Backscattering ◽  
Submarine Earthquakes ◽  
Distributed Acoustic Sensing ◽  
Submarine Cables

<p>The oceans present a major gap in geophysical instrumentation, hindering fundamental research on submarine earthquakes and the Earth’s interior structure, as well as effective earthquake and tsunami warning for offshore events. Emerging fiber-optic sensing technologies that can leverage submarine telecommunication cables present an new opportunity in filling the data gap. Marra et al. (2018) turned a 96 km long submarine cable into a sensitive seismic sensor using ultra-stable laser interferometry of a round-tripped signal. Another technology, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), interrogates intrinsic Rayleigh backscattering and converts tens of kilometers of dedicated fiber into thousands of seismic strainmeters on the seafloor (e.g., Lindsey et al., 2019; Sladen et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2019; Spica et al., 2020). Zhan et al. (2021) successfully sensed seismic and water waves over a 10,000 km long submarine cable connecting Los Angeles and Valparaiso, by monitoring the polarization of regular optical telecommunication channels. However, these new technologies have substantially different levels of sensitivity, coverage, spatial resolution, and scalability. In this talk, we advocate that strategic combinations of the different sensing techniques (including conventional geophysical networks) are necessary to provide the broadest coverage of the seafloor while making high-fidelity, physically interpretable measurements. Strategic collaborations between the geophysics community and telecommunication community without burdening the telecomm operation (e.g., by multiplexing or using regular telecom signals) will be critical to the long term success.</p><p> </p><p>Marra, G., C. Clivati, R. Luckett, A. Tampellini, J. Kronjäger, L. Wright, A. Mura, F. Levi, S. Robinson, A. Xuereb, B. Baptie, D. Calonico, 2018. Ultrastable laser interferometry for earthquake detection with terrestrial and submarine cables. Science, eaat4458.</p><p>Lindsey, N.J., T. C. Dawe, J. B. Ajo-Franklin, 2019. Illuminating seafloor faults and ocean dynamics with dark fiber distributed acoustic sensing. Science. <strong>366</strong>, 1103–1107.</p><p>Sladen, A., D. Rivet, J. P. Ampuero, L. De Barros, Y. Hello, G. Calbris, P. Lamare, 2019. Distributed sensing of earthquakes and ocean-solid Earth interactions on seafloor telecom cables. Nat Commun. <strong>10</strong>, 5777.</p><p>Spica, Z.J., Nishida, K., Akuhara, T., Pétrélis, F., Shinohara, M. and Yamada, T., 2020. Marine Sediment Characterized by Ocean‐Bottom Fiber‐Optic Seismology. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(16), p.e2020GL088360.</p><p>Williams, E.F., M. R. Fernández-Ruiz, R. Magalhaes, R. Vanthillo, Z. Zhan, M. González-Herráez, H. F. Martins, 2019. Distributed sensing of microseisms and teleseisms with submarine dark fibers. Nat Commun. <strong>10</strong>, 5778.</p><p>Zhan, Z., M. Cantono, V. Kamalov, A. Mecozzi, R. Muller, S. Yin, J.C. Castellanos, 2021. Optical polarization-based seismic and water wave sensing on transoceanic cables. Science, in press.</p>

scholarly journals Urban Distributed Acoustic Sensing Using In-Situ Fibre Beneath Bern, Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krystyna Smolinski ◽  
Patrick Paitz ◽  
Daniel Bowden ◽  
Pascal Edme ◽  
Felix Kugler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Velocity Structure ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Hazard Analysis ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Acoustic Sensing ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Distributed Acoustic Sensing

<p>Anticipating the risks natural hazards pose to an urban environment requires an understanding of the shallow Earth structure of the region. While urban infrastructure often hinders the deployment of a traditional seismic array, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology facilitates the use of existing telecommunication fibre-optic cables for seismic observation, with spatial resolution down to the metre scale.</p><p>Through collaboration with the SWITCH foundation, we were able to use existing, in-situ fibres beneath Bern, Switzerland for seismic data acquisition over two weeks, covering a distance of 6 km with a spatial resolution of 2 m. This allowed for not only real-time visualisation of anthropogenic noise sources (e.g. road traffic), but also of the propagation of resulting seismic waves.</p><p>Data is analysed in the time and frequency domain to explore the range of signals captured and to assess the consistency of data quality along the cable. The local velocity structure can be constrained using both noise correlations and deterministic signals excited by traffic.</p><p>Initial results reveal the ability of DAS to capture signals over a wide range of frequencies and distances, and show promise for utilising urban DAS data to perform urban seismic tomography and hazard analysis.</p>

scholarly journals The Contribution of High-Frequency Wind-Generated Surface Waves to the Stokes Drift

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 3455-3465
Author(s):  
Luc Lenain ◽  
Nick Pizzo
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waves ◽  
Wave Spectrum ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
Stokes Drift ◽  
Upper Ocean ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Instrument Measurement ◽  
Wave Models ◽  
Surface Wave Field

AbstractThe effects of nonbreaking surface waves on upper-ocean dynamics enter the wave-averaged primitive equations through the Stokes drift. Through the resulting upper-ocean dynamics, Stokes drift is a catalyst for the fluxes of heat and trace gases between the atmosphere and ocean. However, estimates of the Stokes drift rely crucially on properly resolving the wave spectrum. In this paper, using state-of-the-art spatial measurements (in situ and airborne remote sensing) from a number of different field campaigns, with environmental conditions ranging from 2 to 13 m s−1 wind speed and significant wave height of up to 4 m, we characterize the properties of the surface wave field across the equilibrium and saturation ranges and provide a simple parameterization of the transition between the two regimes that can easily be implemented in numerical wave models. We quantify the error associated with instrument measurement limitations, or incomplete numerical parameterizations, and propose forms for the continuation of these spectra to properly estimate the Stokes drift. Depending on the instrument and the sea state, predictions of surface Stokes drift may be underestimated by more than 50%.

scholarly journals Parameterizations and Algorithms for Oceanic Whitecap Coverage

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy ◽  
David K. Woolf ◽  
Adrian H. Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Sea State ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
Whitecap Coverage ◽  
Wave Development ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Map Data ◽  
A Minor

Abstract Shipboard measurements of fractional whitecap coverage W and wind speed at 10-m height, obtained during the 2006 Marine Aerosol Production (MAP) campaign, have been combined with ECMWF wave model and Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) satellite wind speed data for assessment of existing W parameterizations. The wind history trend found in an earlier study of the MAP data could be associated with wave development on whitecapping, as previously postulated. Whitecapping was shown to be mainly wind driven; for high wind speeds (>9 m s−1), a minor reduction in the scatter of in situ W data points could be achieved by including sea state conditions or by using parameters related to wave breaking. The W values were slightly larger for decreasing wind/developed waves than for increasing wind/developing waves, whereas cross-swell conditions (deflection angle between wind and swell waves between ±45° and ±135°) appeared to dampen whitecapping. Tabulated curve fitting results of the different parameterizations show that the errors that could not be attributed to the propagation of the standard error in U10 remained largely unexplained. It is possible that the counteracting effects of wave development and cross swell undermine the performance of the simple parameterizations in this study.

scholarly journals Deployment recommendation for Distributed Acoustic Sensing at the surface

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Edme ◽  
Patrick Paitz ◽  
Ana Nap ◽  
Francois Martin ◽  
Valentin Metraux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Reservoir Characterization ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
Minor Amount ◽  
Acoustic Sensing ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Distributed Acoustic Sensing ◽  
A Minor

<p>Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is an optical interferometry based ground motion sensing technology which has the potential to revolutionize the field of seismological data acquisition. It offers the possibility to replace very large numbers of cost-intensive conventional point sensors (seismometers or geophones) by interrogating a single low-cost optic-fibre cable. Being unaffected by spatial aliasing, DAS is emerging as a potential next-generation broad-band geo-hazard (e.g. earthquakes, landslides) and reservoir (e.g. geothermal, oil and gas) seismic monitoring tool.</p><p>For borehole applications, with the cable appropriately coupled with the casing, the reliability and benefit of DAS-based VSP acquisition is now widely recognized. At the surface however, for reflection seismic for example, the adequate deployment procedure is less well documented, and experiments are performed with cables sometimes directly deployed on the surface, or sometimes buried quite deep (e.g. one meter) in the ground. Especially for non-permanent monitoring, the trenching effort can be substantial or unaffordable due to logistic or permitting issues. One may wonder if such an effort with its associated cost is actually beneficial.</p><p>We present here the results of a surface-based active seismic experiment conducted in Switzerland in the context of a geothermal reservoir characterization project with “co-located” stretches of cable deployed at different depths. The repeatability of the DAS measurements is quantified and compared to a dense array of conventional multi-component geophones. The study shows that deeply (50 cm) deployed cables offers only marginal data quality improvements compared to very shallow (2 cm) cables. In contrast, the parts of the cable directly laid down at the surface exhibit much larger noise levels and very poor repeatability (approximately one order of magnitude larger NRMS). Our study suggests that only a minor amount of elastic material covering the cable is enough to provide a good coupling and that a modest machine to conveniently perform such a shallow deployment would greatly benefit the growing DAS user community.</p>

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