Researchers suggest that using stretches of fibre optic cables as sensors could allow for continuous, real-time monitoring of conditions below the bottom of oceans and seas, as well as under the planet's surface.
Despite considerable advances in sensing technology in recent years, oceans and seas remain mostly unmonitored because permanent ocean-floor sensors are too expensive, according to a press release from the University of Edinburgh.
According to the researchers, the new technology might be used to generate a massive array of environmental sensors by utilising existing networks of subsea cables that crisscross the ocean floor and extend hundreds of thousands of miles.
Transatlantic telecommunications cable
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh tested the approach on a 3,600-mile underwater cable that connects the United Kingdom and Canada.
They demonstrated that earthquakes and ocean signals like waves and currents could be detected on individual spans of the cable, which runs from Southport, England, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
While prior research has proven that subsea cables can be used to detect underwater earthquakes, the amount of data collected was limited because each cable served as a single sensor.
Technological advancements
Up to 12 sensors were installed along the transatlantic cable in the latest study, but the team claims that future modifications could allow this number to rise to more than 120.
"This innovative technique opens a new era for Earth monitoring, delivering for the first time a practical answer to the paucity of environmental data from the bottom of seas and oceans," said Giuseppe Marra of the National Physical Laboratory, which spearheaded the research. The current underwater cable can now be reimagined as a breakthrough instrument for earth sciences and beyond.
Improved surveillance
The team claims that by combining the novel method with existing seismometer-based networks, the methodology has the potential to dramatically increase worldwide earthquake monitoring.
The method could potentially be used to improve tsunami detection and track the impact of climate change on deep-sea currents and temperatures.
Researchers from Google, the British Geological Survey, and Italy's Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica collaborated on the study, which was published in the journal Science.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Natural Environment Research Council, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation initiative all contributed to the project.
0 Comments