In recent years, the integration of fibre optic telecommunication cable monitoring technologies has not been fully achieved, hindering novel applications and research in Earth science. However, recent collaborations among national seismic and oceanographic infrastructures, National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), universities, research institutes, and industry in Europe have developed techniques to monitor the Earth and its systems using submarine optical telecommunication fibres. The SUBMERSE project aims to create a pilot research instrument that can continuously monitor existing submarine fibre optic cables, promoting sustainable development goals and leading to new scientific collaborations. This requires the collaboration of multiple stakeholders both nationally and internationally.

1. www.submerse.eu
Monitoring Oceans
Chris Atherton, GÉANT
23/05/23
SURF Research Day 2023

3. By U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd
Class Philip A. McDaniel - This image was released by the
United States Navy with the ID 050102-N-9593M-040
(next), Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=824
1767

4. By NOAA - http://www.magazine.noaa.gov/stories/images/dart_tsunamicover.jpg, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24516204

5. How Tsunamis are monitored and reported
Up-Stream
Measurement, Analysis, Decision
Sensor Systems
- Seismometer
- cGPS
- Tide Gauge
- Bouy System
- Others
Warning Centre
- Processing
- Simulation
- Decision-Support
- Warning Message
Down-Stream
Awareness, Preparedness, Reaction
Local Administration
Local Communities
Dissemination
Time
Earth Quake
/ Event
Lauterjung, J., Letz, H. (Eds.) (2017): 10 Years Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System:
Experiences, Lessons Learned and Outlook, Potsdam: GFZ German Research Centre for
Geosciences, 68 p.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.2312/GFZ.7.1.2017.001

6. g = 9.81
d = Depth of water
1000 meters
water depth
= 713 Km/s
4000 meters
water depth
= 198 m/s

7. Tsunami travel speed map
Map contours: 1-hour
intervals:
Red: 1-4 hour arrival
times
Yellow: 5-6 hour arrival
times
Green: 7-14 hour
arrival times
Blue: 15-21 hour
arrival times
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/
hazard/tsu_travel_time_even
ts.shtml

8. Where are Ocean Tsunami Buoys most effective?
NOAA National Data Buoy Centre: NOAA/NDBC | Esri , GEBCO, IHO-IOC GEBCO, NGS | …

9. 2 x tsunami strikes in 2018
Warning sent but it wasn’t accurate as the tsunami was triggered by a volcano
landslide. The installed tidal gauges weren’t able to distinguish the tsunami
from the high tide and the deep water buoys weren’t monitoring.
By Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) -
https://twitter.com/sutopo_pn/status/1077092955389812736, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75301355

10. Map contours: 1-hour
intervals:
Red: 1-4 hour arrival times
Yellow: 5-6 hour arrival times
Green: 7-14 hour arrival
times
Blue: 15-21 hour arrival times
Tsunami’s in Europe
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/
hazard/tsu_travel_time_even
ts.shtml

11. Another societal challenge from lack of
deep ocean observations
Photo by Rob Curran on Unsplash

12. Global Deep Ocean Temperature
Credit: Imagery processed by the NASA Earth Observations (NEO) team in
collaboration with Gene Feldman and Norman Kuring, NASA OceanColor
Group.

13. We need more data!
Long term data sets
for:
• Climate modelling
• Weather forecasting
• AI and all that
Photo by Snowscat on Unsplash

14. What about dedicated infrastructure?
By John Whitehead - Ocean Instruments, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15663716

15. Expensive to install

16. Expensive to maintain

17. Who pays?
Photo by Ibrahim Boran on Unsplash

18. Who is responsible?
Photo by Frederic Köberl on Unsplash

19. There have been dedicated cables and
infrastructure installed!

20. What about Space?
Photo by NASA on Unsplash

21. This isn’t just a theoretical
problem

22. Credit: www.submarinecablemap.com

23. Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications

24. SMART Cable concept
Howe et al., (2019, August 2). Smart cables for observing the Global Ocean: Science and implementation. SMART Cables for Observing the Global Ocean: Science and
Implementation. Retrieved June 10, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2019.00424/full

25. Is there another
way?
Photo by Beth Macdonald on Unsplash

26. Wet vs Dry Sensing
Dry
Wet
SMART

27. Dry Optical sensing techniques
Source: M. Cantono et al., Seismic Sensing in Submarine Fiber Cables,
Source: ASN website
Source: Kristina Shizuka Yamase Skarvang

28. With thanks to Prof Martin Landrø, NTNU
• Whales
• Storms
• Ships
• Earthquakes
• And more
What can DAS detect?

29. With thanks to Prof Martin Landrø, NTNU

30. Source: Martin Landrø et al., Sensing whales, storms,
ships
and earthquakes using an Arctic fibre optic cable,
Nature Published: 10 November 2022,
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-23606-x
Field test 2022: Svalbard

31. Baleen whale vocalizations detected over the
120 km of the Svalbard underwater distributed
acoustic sensing (DAS) array
Source: Le´ a Bouffaut et al. , Eavesdropping at the Speed of Light: Distributed Acoustic
Sensing of Baleen Whales in the Arctic, Frontiers in Marine Science, July 2022

32. With thanks to Prof Martin Landrø, NTNU

34. The other techniques – State of Polarisation (SoP)
DWDM
Optical
Transponder
Fibre optic Submarine telecom cable
Stokes Parameter By Emma Alexander - [1], CC BY 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116390426
Stokes Parameter
Carrier phase and polarization can be
recovered from the DSP outputs.
DWDM
Optical
Transponder
Normal telecoms traffic
Stokes Parameter

35. Using submarine cables in a different way
Fibre Bragg Grating
Credit: UNESCO 2017, Bruce Howe and Kate Panayotou

36. SOP OTDR

37. SOP OFDR
FRM-20X-R-EC
1-A-1
SYSTEM
1-4
SYSTEM
5-8
SYSTEM
9-12
SYSTEM
13-16
SYSTEM
17-20
WSS
WSS
LOW GAIN
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
LINE
EXPN / OTDR
IRM-B-ECH1
1-A-1 OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
IRM-B-ECH1
1-A-1
OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
IAM-B-ECH2
1-A-1 OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
RU 1
XT-3300-L
6 Wave ITU
Gr id
RU 1
XT-3300-L 6 Wave ITU
Gr id
RU 1
XT-3300-L
6 Wave ITU
Gr id
~80km G.652 Fiber Spool
C-Band Traffic – Minimum 1 ScH
OSA OSA
FRM-20X-R-EC
1-A-1
SYSTEM
1-4
SYSTEM
5-8
SYSTEM
9-12
SYSTEM
13-16
SYSTEM
17-20
WSS
WSS
LOW GAIN
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
LINE
EXPN / OTDR
IRM-B-ECH1
1-A-1 OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
IRM-B-ECH1
1-A-1
OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
IAM-B-ECH2
1-A-1 OSA
SYSTEM
LINE
OSA
EXPN /
OTDR
FRM-20X-R-EC
1-A-1
SYSTEM
1-4
SYSTEM
5-8
SYSTEM
9-12
SYSTEM
13-16
SYSTEM
17-20
WSS
WSS
HIGH GAIN
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
MPO
LINE
EXPN / OTDR
RU 1
XT-3300-L
6 Wave ITU
Gr id
XT-3300-L 6
RU 1
XT-3300-L 6 Wave ITU
Gr id
RU 1
XT-3300-L
6 Wave ITU
Gr id
~80km G.652 Fiber Spool ~80km G.652 Fiber Spool
(Less if need to close span)
C-Band Traffic – Minimum 1 ScH
OSA OSA OSA OSA
1.5 Ghz
Narrow
band filter
Interferometer
Coherent
Transponder
ROADM ROADM
Repeater
Repeater
Submarine cable
Storage/
processing
SoP data
from DSP
Optical phase and polarization changes can be recorded across individual
cable spans (the cable spans between repeaters) based on the frequency
difference between the laser source and repeater units.
C-band
Figure adapted from Marra, G. et al., 2022.
1561 nm

39. AIM
Investigate utilising existing telecommunication
systems, rather than dedicated submarine fibre,
for monitoring the earth and oceans, without
disrupting telecoms traffic.

40. Objectives
Define a standardised concept
architecture to integrate sensing
technologies (DAS, SOP, SOP OTDR,
SOP OFDR) into a single telecoms
submarine cable system.
Complement existing infrastructures,
datasets, and SMART cable concepts
by developing a scalable data
dissemination system from the new
instruments to existing research
infrastructures and communities.
Deploy a standardised prototype
research instrument in at least 3
geographically diverse locations.
Scientifically validate and calibrate
the instruments deployed
Produce open, machine readable,
long-term datasets.
Develop the concept in collaboration
with research communities, research
infrastructures, Government
institutions and industry.
Defining training and capacity
building which allows for enhancing
the collection, interpretation,
processing and reuse of the data
generated by the research
instruments
Developing a roadmap and strategy
to implement a sustainable research
instrument and datasets from more
countries

41. Project length
36 months

42. Consortium Members
Research Organisations
NRENs
Commercial organisations

43. SUBMERSE Project concept
Automatic
Streaming

44. 44 |

45. Field test: Svalbard
• Polarimeter (PM1000, Novoptel) connected to
a live DWDM link
• DAS (OptoDAS, ASN) interrogators connected
to two dedicated fibers in each cable
DAS
DWDM
DWDM
Signal multiplexed with other
communication traffic
Dedicated Fiber
Ny-Ålesund Longyearbyen
DAS
SFP
1542.94 nm
EDFA
Polarimeter
EDFA
Tx
Tx
𝜆1
𝜆2
…
Rx
Rx
𝜆1
𝜆2
…
100 Gbps per 𝜆
250 km
Raman
Pump
125 km 125 km
DAS
Dedicated Fiber
DAS

46. Earthquake analysis with two DAS interrogators
Two interrogators more fibre length and more
data to analyse. It will gives a more precise
detection of epicentre.(left) Future study will
investigate the localization of depth of
epicentre.
Noise area. Far away
from interrogators
P Wave
S Wave
One interrogator at LYB
Two interrogatora at both
ends of different cables

47. SOP earthquake detection
DAS Results (M2.70 Earthquake)
Longyearbyen Ny-Ålesund
Earthquake: M2.70
NORSAR
seismometer
Extract the timing the seismic waves hits
the cable from DAS data
-50
-60
-70
-80
-90
SOP variation corresponds with the timing of the Earthquake
hitting the cable
Source: Kristina Shizuka Yamase Skarvang et al., Observation of Local Small
Magnitude Earthquakes using State Of Polarization Monitoring in a 250km
Passive Arctic Submarine Communication Cable, OFC 2023

48. Coexistence of DWDM and DAS have been tested with four main scenarios
• co-propagating without Raman
• co-propagating with Raman
• counter-propagating without Raman
• counter-propagating with Raman
Coexistence of DWDM and DAS
DAS with different operational power range have been tested with running
DWDM channels with a variety of modulation format, Symbol rate and
bitrate

49. Credit: www.submarinecablemap.com

50. www.submerse.eu
Thank you
Any questions