High resolution seafloor thermometry and internal wave monitoring using
Distributed Acoustic Sensing
Abstract
Temperature is central for ocean science but is still poorly sampled on
the deep ocean. Here, we show that Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)
technology can convert several kilometer long seafloor fiber-optic (FO)
telecommunication cables into dense arrays of temperature anomaly
sensors with milikelvin (mK) sensitivity, allowing us to monitor oceanic
processes such as internal waves and upwelling with unprecedented
detail. We validate our observations with oceanographic in-situ sensors
and an alternative FO technology. Practical solutions and recent
advances are outlined to obtain continuous absolute temperatures with
DAS at the seafloor. Our observations grant key advantages to DAS over
established temperature sensors, showing its transformative potential
for thermometry in ocean sciences and hydrography.