Thanks to state-of-the-art Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology and a high-precision fiber optic cable from Solifos, it has been proven for the first time that ice streams are influenced not only by viscous flow but also by brittle deformation and seismic events.
The Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) is one of Europe's most ambitious infrastructure projects, set to revolutionize the connection between Munich and Verona. With a total length of 64 kilometers, it will become the longest underground railway connection in the world, significantly improving cross-Alpine traffic and shifting freight transport from road to rail.
Advancements in fiber-optic sensor technology are paving the way for groundbreaking infrastructure monitoring solutions. A recent testament to this is found deep beneath the streets of Munich, where our sensor cables are playing a pivotal role in overseeing the integrity of a connecting tunnel in Munich's subway system.
Dikes play a crucial role in protecting against floods and preventing damage to life and infrastructure. In light of climate change, improved monitoring technology is becoming increasingly important. In this context, a new distributed fiber-optic (DFO) monitoring system is being developed to detect infrastructural stability issues, erosion, and the exchange of groundwater and river water early on.
A research team from ETH Zurich in cooperation with the Icelandic Meteorological Office installed a fiber optic cable around the southern edge of the caldera to monitor the seismic activity of the Grimsvötn volcano and collect more detailed data.
NOR-FROST is the new near-surface fibre optic sensing test site in the backyard of NORSAR, an internationally recognized independent research foundation with specialization in seismology and seismic monitoring.
Fibre-optic cables are emerging as a valuable tool for geoscientists and glaciologists. They offer a relatively inexpensive way of measuring even the tiniest glacial earthquakes – plus they can also be used to obtain more accurate images of the geological subsurface in earthquake-prone megacities.