Distributed acoustic sensing for ocean applications

Abstract: Extensive monitoring of acoustic activities is important for many fields, including biology, security, oceanography, and Earth science. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is an evolving technique for continuous, wide-coverage measurements of mechanical vibrations, which is suited to ocean applications. DAS illuminates an optical fiber with laser pulses and measures the backscattered wave due to small random variations in the refractive index of the material. Specifically, DAS uses coherent optical interferometry to measure the phase difference of the backscattered wave from adjacent locations along the fiber. External stimuli, such as mechanical strain due to acoustic wavefields impinging on the fiber-optic cable, modulate the backscattered wave. Hence, the differential phase measurements of the optical backscatter are proportional to the underlying physical quantities of the surrounding wavefield. Continuous measurement of the backscattered electromagnetic signal provides a distributed sensing modality that extends spatially along the fiber. We provide an overview of DAS technology and detail the underlying physics, from electromagnetic to mechanical and eventually acoustic quantities. We explain the effect of DAS acquisition parameters in signal processing and show the potential of DAS for sound source detection on data collected from the Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cabled Array https://doi.org/10.58046/5J60-FJ89.