A novel use of an existing fiber-optic cable off the coast of Spain has clued scientists in to how seismic noise is generated in the ocean.
fiber optics
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Fiber Optics Open New Frontier for Landslide Monitoring
To study a landslide along China’s Three Gorges Reservoir, researchers deployed underground fiber-optic sensors to monitor temperature, moisture, and strain.
Posted inNews
Wiretapped Cables and the Songs of Whales
Researchers jerry-rigged fiber-optic cables in a fjord to eavesdrop on blue whales, with possible applications ranging from seafloor mapping to meteorology.
Posted inFeatures
Distributed Sensing and Machine Learning Hone Seismic Listening
Fiber-optic cables can provide a wealth of detailed data on subsurface vibrations from a wide range of sources. Machine learning offers a means to make sense of it all.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Fiber-Optic Cables Can Produce High-Resolution Underground Maps
Telecom fiber repurposed as distributed acoustic sensing arrays can image near-surface structure and potentially improve seismic hazard mapping in urban areas.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Using Sound and Vibration Signals to Understand the Subsurface
A new book explores Distributed Acoustic Sensing, a technology with a range of applications across geophysics and related fields.
Posted inScience Updates
Sensing Iceland’s Most Active Volcano with a “Buried Hair”
Distributed acoustic sensing offered researchers a means to measure ground deformation from atop ice-clad Grímsvötn volcano with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Aftershocks and Fiber Optics
Internet cables can be transformed into a string of dense seismic sensors, and this approach has now been shown to be highly useful for quickly monitoring seismicity after major earthquakes.
Posted inNews
Laser Flashes Shed Light on a Changing Arctic
An ongoing project in northern Alaska is using pulses of laser light to monitor anthropogenic activity, ice quakes, and marine wildlife.