Harnessing Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for Maritime Innovation
12 Apr 2024
Our ocean is not just filled with marine lives, coral, and sunken treasures.
Submarine or undersea cables crisscross and line up on our ocean floor. It connects continents and serves as the backbone of global communication networks. These cables carry vast amounts of data, facilitating internet connectivity, international telephone calls, and other forms of telecommunications between countries and regions.
Transforming the use of Undersea cables with Distributed Acoustic Sensing
Distributed acoustic sensing on subsea cables functions as distributed sensors along these optical fibres. It continuously measures and localises acoustic, thermal, vibration, and strain disturbances in the sea.
By utilising existing telecom or standard optical fibres as sensors, DAS offers unparalleled versatility and cost-effectiveness in monitoring subsea assets and environments.
From Land to Sea: Evolution of DAS Technology
With the success from earlier versions of DAS in land use cases such as excavation detection and fence intrusion detection for security, the adoption of DAS technology in maritime settings presents a multitude of exciting use cases that promise to elevate safety, operational efficiency, productivity, and automation.
These include:
- Large-Scale Mapping: DAS enables the comprehensive mapping of vibration, deformation, temperature, and other critical parameters across vast stretches of subsea cables, providing invaluable insights into environmental conditions and infrastructure health
- Submarine Cable Monitoring: Operators can monitor subsea cables in real-time, detecting anomalies and threats with unprecedented accuracy. This proactive approach to maintenance and monitoring enhances reliability and minimises downtime.
- Ocean Environment Monitoring: DAS-equipped subsea cables serve as a valuable tool for monitoring ocean environments, enabling researchers to gather data on currents, environmental conditions, and maybe even marine life.