The technique would likely be fairly inexpensive

The technique would likely be fairly inexpensive, as well, Spica says. Typically, commercial fiber-optic cables contain unused fibers that can be leased for other purposes, including seismology.

For the moment, traditional seismometers provide better performance than prototype systems that use fiber-optic sensing. Also, seismometers sense ground movements in three directions, while optical fibers only sense along the direction of the fiber.

The next phase of the project involves a much larger test array. Scientists recently formed a 27-mile loop by linking optical fibers on Stanford’s historic campus with fibers at several other nearby locations.

The research appears in JGR Solid Earth. Additional coauthors are from Stanford, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and Virginia Tech.
fiber optic jobs salary
A collective effort from Stanford IT services, Stanford Geophysics, and OptaSense Ltd. made the three-mile Stanford fiber-optic array and data acquisition possible. Financial support for the work came from the Stanford Exploration Project, the US Department of Energy, and the Schlumberger Fellowship