8–12 Sept 2026
Europe/Vienna timezone

Marine Sediment Characterisation Using Interface Waves Recorded by DAS

FA2026/271
9 Sept 2026, 16:40
20m
Saal 11B (Messe Congress Graz)

Saal 11B

Messe Congress Graz

Speaker

Hefeng Dong (Norwegian University of Sci. & Tech.)

Description

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is an emerging technology that converts conventional fibre-optic (OF) cables into densely sampled acoustic arrays. By analysing Rayleigh backscattering from laser pulses, DAS detects strain changes along the cable, enabling continuous monitoring of subsea infrastructure and seismic events. Shear-wave velocity profiles are critical for assessing sediment stiffness and useful for offshore geotechnical applications. In shallow water, both active and passive sounds generate Scholte waves, propagating along the water-seafloor interface. These waves can be recorded by acoustic sensors deployed on or close to the interface. Scholte wave velocity is closely linked to the shear-wave velocity, and its variation with depth causes Scholte waves to be dispersive. Therefore, the Scholte-wave dispersion property can be used to estimate the shear-wave velocity profiles. This paper presents examples of characterizing shallow-ocean sediments using both active and passive DAS data recorded across various ocean environments. The first example is a seismic survey offshore Norway. DAS data were acquired using an existing FO cable deployed 1 m below the seafloor. The data from airgun shots show dispersive Scholte waves at near-offsets, which were used to estimate the shear-wave velocity profile. The dispersion data resolved two-layer sediments over a half-space. The second example is from a dataset released as part of “The Global DAS Month of February 2023”. Two-hour DAS data of ocean ambient noise recorded by an 80-km FO cable in shallow water in the Southern North Sea were analysed to extract Scholte-wave dispersion curves for estimating the shear-wave velocity profile. The dispersion data resolved a 50 m sediment layer above a half-space.

Author

Hefeng Dong (Norwegian University of Sci. & Tech.)

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