Near real-time nautical depth mapping via horizontal optical fibers and distributed acoustic sensing

Journal Article (2024)
Author(s)

Menno Buisman (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Port of Rotterdam)

Deyan Draganov (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Alex Kirichek (TU Delft - Civil Engineering & Geosciences)

Research Group
Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2024.105377 Final published version
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2024
Language
English
Research Group
Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
Journal title
Journal of Applied Geophysics
Volume number
225
Article number
105377
Downloads counter
263
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

Safe navigation in ports and waterways subjected to siltation requires nautical depth monitoring. For this purpose, surveying vessels equipped with a zero-offset echo sounder and intrusive point measurements are frequently used. Because these measurements depend on the availability of a surveying vessel and require access to quay walls, such as at the container terminals in seaports, the temporal resolution is limited. Especially at these locations, a high temporal resolution monitoring system could allow for a higher occupancy rate. We propose to use Distributed Acoustic Sensing to monitor the nautical depth using fiber-optical cables. We install five horizontal fibers at different heights between two points and continuously record along the complete installation. Analysing the continuous recordings, we show that horizontal fibers can be used to monitor the water-mud interface depth with a vertical resolution around six mm. Multiple passive sources, like vessel movements and water currents, are used to estimate the water-mud interface.