The global internet grid could better detect earthquakes with a new algorithm

Earthquake detection could be greatly improved by reaching the world’s Internet network with an innovative new algorithm, researchers say.

Fiber Optical cables Used for cable television, telephone systems and the global web matrix now have the potential to help measure seismic rumors due to recent technological progress, but the use of this discovery has been problematic.

A new work published Today in Journal Geophysical International Seek to approach these challenges by adapting a simple algorithm based on physics to include fiber optic data that can then be used hand in hand with traditional seismometer measurements.

Not only that this “interesting” advance could be integrated into early earthquake warning systems, but it can also help detect seismic activity associated with erupt volcanoes, geothermal drilling and ice cream ice.

“The ability to turn fiber optic cables into thousands of seismic sensors It inspired many approaches to use fiber to detect the earthquake. However, the detection of fiber optic earthquake is not an easy challenge to solve, “said the main researcher Dr. Thomas Hudson, a senior research scientist at Eth Zurich.

“Here, we are thinking of combining the benefits of thousands of sensors with a simple physics -based approach to detect earthquakes using any fiber optic cable anywhere.

“Interestingly, our method can combine seismometer fiber and traditional fiber measurements, allowing fiber optical sensors to be included in existing early warning systems.”

Distributed acoustic sensation (DAS) is a national technology that uses fiber optic cables to detect acoustic signals and vibrations. It can be used to monitor a variety of things, including pipes, railways or basement.

Therefore has the potential to transform fiber optic networks – carrying super fast data – in measurements of seismic activity which can be used to detect earthquakes.

This is tempting, because fiber optic networks are ubiquitous in populated regions and even in cross oceans, offering the possibility of much more detailed and efficient seismic monitoring networks than those currently exist.

However, the transformation of this potential into reality is a much more complicated proposal.

The geometrics of the fiber network in the real world are often complex-the seismologists have no control over geometry. In addition, fiber optic cables are often located in noisy urban environments, which makes it difficult to differentiate between earthquake activity and other sources in how traditional seismometers do.

Another challenge is that DAS measurements are only sensitive to tension in the fiber axis, while seismometers measure 3D movement. This causes the surface fiber cables to be much more sensitive to the slower waves (which only move through solids and are the second waves that reach during an earthquake) than the faster p waves (which travel through liquids and solid), which means it is more difficult to detect earthquakes and locate.

One solution is to combine information from both traditional seismometers and fiber optic cables to detect earthquakes, but this is not easy due to the various sensitivities of the tools and measuring units.

The other problem is that transforming a fiber optic cable into thousands of sensors generates a lot of data. The processing of these data in real time is essential for the monitoring of the earthquake, so efficient data processing algorithms are required.

The new algorithm works by taking the energy observed in receptors – either fiber optic cable channels and/or seismometers – and the migration of that energy back through space and time to find a coherent peak corresponding to a potential earthquake.

This approach has proven to be effective in detecting earthquakes at the eruption of volcanoes, geothermal drilling and glaciers.

“A key force of this approach based on physics is that it works well even in noisy environments, because noise is generally less coherent than a earthquake Signal, “said Dr. Hudson.” It can also be applied outside the box of any fiber network. “

He added: “Although we do not claim that we have completely solved the problem of the great volume of data, we present pragmatic ways to cope with this and our algorithm runs in real time for tested data sets. The method is offered open-source, so the wider seismology community can benefit immediately. “