I-Corps: Imaging and locating geothermal resources using distributed acoustic sensing deployed on telecommunication fiber cables

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种地下成像技术，该技术利用现有的电信光纤基础设施进行地震监测和地下成像。所提出的技术依赖于利用一种称为分布式声学传感的激光干涉测量系统在现有的电信光纤网络上记录的自然地震活动。这种方法可以显著降低地热能勘探和生产的地球物理研究的前期成本。具体来说，它可以通过识别与高能地热储层相关的最佳地下构造来降低勘探风险。此外，它还可能为火山和地热储层等复杂的地下系统提供宝贵的见解。I-Corps的这个项目是基于层析成像方法的开发，该方法采用分布式声传感（DAS）数据记录在已有的电信光纤上。与传统的地震仪器相比，DAS数据使用一台仪器就可以提供覆盖数十公里的米尺度空间分辨率。该技术已成功应用于大型火山系统，如位于加利福尼亚州猛犸湖的长谷火山口，大大提高了对该火山的认识。此外，报道的地下图像已被证明可以改善与热液系统相关的结构特征，目前位于火山口内的30兆瓦地热发电厂正在使用热液系统。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a subsurface imaging technology that uses existing telecommunication fiber infrastructure for earthquake monitoring and subsurface imaging. The proposed technology relies on natural seismicity recorded on existing telecommunication fiber networks using a laser interferometric system called distributed acoustic sensing. This approach may significantly decrease the upfront costs of geophysical studies for geothermal energy exploration and production. Specifically, it may reduce the exploration risk through the identification of optimal subsurface structures associated with high-energy geothermal reservoirs. In addition, it also may provide invaluable insights into complex subsurface systems such as volcanoes and geothermal reservoirs.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a tomographic method that employs distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) data recorded on pre-existing telecommunication fibers. Compared to conventional seismic instruments, DAS data provides a meter-scale spatial resolution covering tens of kilometers using a single instrument. This technology has been successfully applied to a large-scale volcanic system such as the Long Valley caldera located in Mammoth Lakes, California, which significantly advanced the understanding of this volcano. Additionally, the reported subsurface images have been shown to improve the characterization of the structures associated with the hydrothermal system currently employed by a 30 MW geothermal power plant located within the caldera.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.