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Leveraging Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for Year-Round Observation of Sea Ice and Submarine Permafrost: Successes and Lessons Learned From the Beaufort Sea, Alaska.

Description: 

Arctic sea ice and submarine permafrost are key indicators and positive-feedback mediators of global climate change. Sea ice extent is a major component of global albedo, and sea ice thickness provides thermal insulation to the Arctic Ocean. Submarine permafrost in the Beaufort Sea is known to contain extensive reservoirs of gas hydrates which would release globally significant amounts of methane if thawed. The Arctic is insufficiently monitored, relative to its importance, due to its remoteness and logistical challenges. For the past three years, we have recorded distributed acoustic and temperature sensing on a commercial submarine telecommunications cable in the Beaufort Sea, Alaska, to test the capabilities of these technologies for temporospatial monitoring of polar coastal processes. We present an overview of our significant findings, including acoustic-gravity detection of sea ice extent, thickness, and dynamics, and tomographic and thermodynamic imaging of permafrost distribution. Sandia National Laboratories is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.

Session: ESC-SSA Joint Session: Climate Change and Environmental Seismology - II

Type: Oral

Date: 5/3/2024

Presentation Time: 04:30 PM (local time)

Presenting Author: Michael

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: Yes

Authors