Subsea Environmental Sensing with Operational Submarine Cables

I present the results of the Suboptic working group formed during the Suboptic 2023 conference to create a synergy between submarine cable owners and government institutions to improve safety for coastal communities. 

Since discovery of sensing capabilities of operational submarine cables, a perfect storm of smart optical spectroscopic techniques enabled enhancement of cable security and environmental protection. We are looking for synergy between cable owners and government institutions to improve safety for coastal communities. In high seas, Subsea Environmental Sensing with Operational Submarine Cables (SESOSC) has a target to create industry wide collaboration to enable early warning of tsunami. As awareness of the importance and complexity of the ocean environment becomes increasingly clear, the need for improved sensing, with better spatial resolution and increased temporal coverage, is now pressing. Submarine cables developed to transmit information between continents can be used as sensors. Sensing with submarine cables was a topic of active discussion at the SubOptic 2023 Conference, where two dozen authors presented results convincing that sensing is a powerful tool to improve cable safety but also provides opportunities for environmental monitoring.  Enormous opportunities of sensing with submarine cables are clear to many today, and need to be addressed from juridical and security perspectives. Fiber optic networks, both terrestrial and subsea, are a growing part of the information revolution. It is clear that sensing with telecom optical fibers creates a base for multiple applications, including earthquake and tsunami early warning. We discuss the next step for the submarine industry to improve cable safety and enhance environmental monitoring worldwide.

This paper contains a summary of Working Group results dedicated to DAS technology for coastal areas cable safety and environmental surveillance and sensing with trans-continental operational cables.  We discuss the strategy to facilitate applications of operational submarine cables for sensing of earthquakes, water waves, and improvement of security of submarine cables. We also plan to provide a consolidated industry viewpoint on the considerations and opportunities afforded by existing and emerging cable-based technologies for sensing the marine environment. The Working Group envisions international cooperation between cable owners and government agencies to provide low frequency data to tsunami warning centers with an early alarm threshold established based on the research project. We are working on the development of the platform  to summarize industry position on the technologies in the field of submarine cable-based environmental sensing. The Working Group does not cover the SMART submarine cables program as the Working Group deals with fiber as a sensor technologies that do not require modification of the wetplant. Optical transmission fibers are excellent sensors and operational submarine cables can provide additional value to submarine cable owners.