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Laboratory Study of Coupling and Sensitivity of Optical Fiber Distributed Acoustic Sensing

Description: 

Optical Fiber Distributed Acoustic Sensing (OF-DAS) is rapidly evolving as a seismic observation tool. However, installation of OF widely varies. These include pre-installed dark fiber, shallow trenches, directly on ice, or installed in wellbores. The coupling of the OF with its surroundings is known to have a large impact on the instrument response. Most information about how well OF is coupled and how the OF-DAS instrument response compares to conventional seismometers is through empirical data gathered in the field. To characterize this coupling methodically, we constructed a large container filled with grains, almost 10 meters in length, and placed both OF and seismometers inside and outside of the container. Local, regional, and teleseismic earthquake motions are recorded to understand how factors such as burial depth and grain characteristics affect the received signal. These measurements are not only important for ensuring that accurate amplitude and phase information is obtained on OF-DAS systems, but also help to engineer optimal coupling for a desired application. LA-UR-23-20264

Session: Understanding Earth Systems with Fiber-optic Cables [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/19/2023

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Carly Donahue

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Authors