Optical interferometry–based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable

Marra, G.; Fairweather, D.M.; Kamalov, V.; Gaynor, P.; Cantono, M.; Mulholland, S.; Baptie, B.; Castellanos, J.C.; Vagenas, G.; Gaudron, J.-O.; Kronjäger, J.; Hill, I. R.; Schioppo, M.; Barbeito Edreira, I.; Burrows, K. A.; Clivati, C.; Calonico, D.; Curtis, A.. 2022 Optical interferometry–based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable. Science, 376 (6595). 874-879. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1939

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract/Summary

Optical fiber–based sensing technology can drastically improve Earth observations by enabling the use of existing submarine communication cables as seafloor sensors. Previous interferometric and polarization-based techniques demonstrated environmental sensing over cable lengths up to 10,500 kilometers. However, measurements were limited to the integrated changes over the entire length of the cable. We demonstrate the detection of earthquakes and ocean signals on individual spans between repeaters of a 5860-kilometer-long transatlantic cable rather than the whole cable. By applying this technique to the existing undersea communication cables, which have a repeater-to-repeater span length of 45 to 90 kilometers, the largely unmonitored ocean floor could be instrumented with thousands of permanent real-time environmental sensors without changes to the underwater infrastructure.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo1939
ISSN:	0036-8075
Date made live:	29 Jul 2022 12:19 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532996

Actions (login required)

View Item

Document Downloads

More statistics for this item...