Continuous Profiling of Ocean Temperature Over Tens of Kilometers Using Optical Fiber Technology

PI计划调查长光纤阵列是否是测量海洋温度波动的可行方法。海洋科学界迫切需要增加海洋观测的时空密度，特别是在海面、海底和海岸线附近。传统的分立仪器阵列价格昂贵，即使在观测站也难以部署。现在看来，使用各种形式的光学技术来生产长（1- 100公里）的分布式阵列是可能的，这些阵列沿着它们的长度连续地感测温度、压力、声学和其他信号。这些阵列可以部署在海底，漂浮在海面上，拖在移动的车辆后面或悬挂在系泊设备上。光学阵列技术是由军事和石油工业开创的。已经开发了多公里温度剖面阵列来监测威尔斯和油藏中的热分布。PI计划在斯克里普斯海洋研究所码头的尽头建立一个小型测试观测站。光学温度系统将从天文台部署到附近的斯克里普斯海底峡谷，获得快速进入大深度。这个想法是运行一个相互比较的竞争技术从码头天文台。PI将比较原型拉曼和布拉格系统，并创建一个纯粹的电气等效。这些系统将长期运行，以记录沿海热结构的季节性变化，并支持未来沿海涌升监测系统的设计。更广泛的影响光纤精确分布式温度传感的成功开发可能会在海洋学的许多领域产生重大影响。这些肯定会渗透到教育水平。此外，使用场景表明，所提出的传感器可以影响我们对赤道地区气候重要过程的理解，这具有明显的社会相关性。

The PI plans to investigate whether long fiber optic arrays represent a viable means of measuring fluctuations in ocean temperature. There is a pressing need in the ocean sciences community to increase the space time density of ocean observations, particularly near the sea-surface, sea-floor and coastlines. Conventional arrays of discrete instruments are expensive and difficult to deploy even in an observatory setting. It now appears possible to use various forms of optical technology to produce long (1-100km) distributed arrays which sense temperature, pressure, acoustic and other signals continuously along their length. These arrays might be deployed on the sea floor, floated on the sea surface, towed behind moving vehicles or suspended from moorings. Optical array technology has been pioneered by the military and by the oil industry. Multi-kilometer temperature profiling arrays have been developed to monitor the heat distribution in oil wells and reservoirs. The PIs plan to establish a small test observatory at the end of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography pier. Optical temperature systems will be deployed from the observatory and into nearby Scripps Undersea Canyon, gaining rapid access to great depths. The idea is to run an intercomparison of competing technologies from the pier observatory. The PIs will compare prototype Raman and Bragg systems and create a purely electrical equivalent. These will be operated for an extended period to document seasonal variability of the coastal thermal structure and to support the design of a future coastal upwelling monitoring system. Broader ImpactsSuccessful development of precise distributed temperature sensing on optical fibers could have major impacts in many fields of oceanography. These will surely filter down to the level of education. In addition, the use scenarios make the case that the proposed sensor can impact our understanding of climatically-important processes in equatorial regions, which has clear societal relevance.