Distributed fiber optic sensing is transitioning from an experimental technique to a standard observational tool in seismology and geoscience. What began as the use of telecommunication infrastructure for seismic monitoring is now evolving to a designed sensing system through both instrumental and methodological advancements.

To retrieve information about physical changes along cables, current fiber optic sensing technologies can exploit the interaction between light and matter i.e., using conventional Rayleigh, Brillouin, and Raman scattering. Alternatively, observables can be measured via light interferometry or state of polarization sensing. Interrogators extract information from telecom-grade fibers, exploiting both telecom and non-telecom frequency bands, or from specialty fibers and multi-core designs.

Despite rapid progress, key challenges remain in converting distributed optical measurements into reliable geophysical observables. Translating fiber deformation into true geophysical observables via instrumental response demands improved deployment schemes encompassing cable and fiber embedment geometries, coupling between cable and medium, and quantitative models of cable-to-fiber strain transfer. In parallel, production of massive observable data volumes necessitates new solutions in edge computing, compression schemes, and machine learning to transform how datasets are acquired, reduced, and interpreted.

The session will cover contributions on technological and methodological breakthroughs that push the boundaries of what fiber optic sensors and sensing systems can measure and how they operate. We seek contributions addressing known as well as emerging sensing technology such as designs of next-generation interrogators and specialty fibers, quantifying and improving instrumental response through innovative cable design and ground coupling schemes, as well as extraction of diverse observables (including rotation, stress and strain tensor components). In addition, methodological advances in architectures for edge computing, processing and intelligent data management are welcome.

We invite instrument developers, telecom and optical engineers, as well as method innovators to showcase the developments that will define the next generation of fiber optic sensing tools for the geosciences.