Rapid Surface Deployment of a DAS System for Earthquake Hazard Assessment
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 5
Abstract
Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is a relatively new technology used in many geophysical applications. The versatility, high spatiotemporal resolution, and sensitivity to surface waves make DAS ideal for rapid deployment surveys such as earthquake-aftershock monitoring and hazard assessment. However, these applications usually rely on trenched cable installations that are time consuming and cost-prohibitive to deploy, or on existing telecommunication fibers that are limited in spatial coverage. To examine the potential of untrenched surface deployments, we acquired DAS data in continuous mode for one hour on a rapidly deployed fiber array composed of six parallel linear subsections directly on the surface with different fiber-ground contact conditions. We applied ambient interferometry and adopted a simplified method to determine the average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m (). Our methodology resulted in robust estimates for each surface deployment subsection that are consistent with collocated 1-m-deep trenched cables. The implications of these findings support DAS as a viable method for noninvasive-deployment surface surveys for rapid earthquake hazard and damage assessment.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available in a repository or online in accordance with funder data retention policies: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51k9. Table S1 is available on Dryad at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7255793.
Acknowledgments
The instrumentation used for this study belongs to the DFOS laboratory at the Colorado School of Mines. We would like to thank Dr. Richard Krahenbuhl and Dr. Whitney Trainor-Guitton for facilitating the fiber installment of the Mines Underground Laboratory. We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Bin Luo for his research involving the Mines Underground Laboratory fiber installation cited in this study.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 5 • May 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 19, 2022
Accepted: Nov 21, 2022
Published online: Mar 11, 2023
Published in print: May 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Aug 11, 2023
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