Arctic | Climate and Oceanography
Monitoring Arctic coastal processes with seafloor distributed acoustic and temperature sensing Presenter: Michael Baker , mgbaker@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories
Robert Abbott , reabbot@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories Christian Stanciu , astanci@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories Jennifer Frederick , jmfrede@sandia.gov, Sandia National Laboratories Madison Smith , madisonmsmith@whoi.edu, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution James Thomson , jthomson@apl.washington.edu, University of Washington Jacob Davis , davisjr@uw.edu, University of Washington Andres Peña-Castro , andrespena@unm.edu, University of New Mexico Brandon Schmandt , bschmandt@unm.edu, University of New Mexico
Fiber optic distributed sensing is a recent technology with an established capability for observing a wide range of geophysical signals. Buried or otherwise environmentally-coupled fiber optic cables, including those used for telecommunications, may be interrogated with a distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) or a distributed temperature sensor (DTS) for continuous and high frequency monitoring of seismoacoustic or thermal signals at meter-scale resolutions across linear apertures of tens of kilometers. We present results from the first-ever deployment of DAS to a polar seafloor environment, utilizing a 40 km stretch of telecommunications cable located in the seasonally ice-covered Beaufort Sea, Alaska. We show that this technology is capable of multi-seasonal, near real-time monitoring of ocean waves and sea ice dynamics, including formation, break up, extent, and thickness. We also discuss the prospects of a nascent, year-long continuous monitoring campaign leveraging both DAS and DTS to study seasonal variations in submarine permafrost in the Beaufort Sea. Sandia National Laboratories is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 122
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker