Seismic monitoring of subsea activities

Here you can learn more about the how and why of seismic monitoring of subsea activities.

Why we should do seismic monitoring of subsea activities

Recent incidents exposing the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure have highlighted the importance of detecting, locating and classifying events in the subsea environment. First responders can prioritise actions when subsea events are interpreted quickly.

How we can provide seismic monitoring of subsea activities

By combining modern technology, existing infrastructure, and years of experience with seismic monitoring, seismologists can use Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) together with other seismological tools to provide some of the answers.

How we do it

With the Laser Interrogator, seismologists can get real-time data on subsea events via existing fiber-optic cables.

It only requires connecting hardware to existing infrastructure.

Seismologists at the National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland are testing whether machine learning can be used to identify sources of movement. This could enable the creation of an alert system that warns seismologists about unknown sources, which the experienced seismologists can then assess to determine whether they should be forwarded to the relevant authorities.

Test of seismic monitoring via fiber-optic cables

GEUS is testing the Laser Interrogator on a subsea fiber-optic cable between Rønne, Denmark, and Sassnitz, Germany. Access to the cable is kindly provided by NORDUnet, to whom GEUS is grateful for the great collaboration.

The test is providing valuable learnings to the seismology team at GEUS as well as a lot of data, which will be used for further development of data analysis practices.

Future perspectives: Seismic arrays in Denmark

A linked group of seismometers arranged in a for instance a triangle is called a seismic array. A seismic array allows for higher sensitivity to detection of tremours.

Seismic arrays are commonly used for seismic monitoring in Denmark's neighbouring countries but have yet to exist in Denmark. However, seismologists at GEUS are working to ensure funding to realise seismic arrays in Denmark, allowing for much more detailed seismic monitoring of Denmark.

Research collaborations

We are open to research collaborations.

Kindly contact seismologi@geus.dk for more information.

We have collecting unique seismic data from Denmark and are looking into a range of possible research projects, susch as how too use machine learning for interpretion.

Here is an example of raw data:

Example of data from a test near GEUS location in Copenhagen

Seismologists tested the equipment by connecting the Laser Interrogator to an optic fiber cable in Copenhagen and then running around and hitting the ground with a very large hammer.

The data in this film is from that test. The data can be read directly in real time by a seismologist and analysed by programmes.