דוקטורנטים מספרים - Yarin Abukrat

Optic Fiber-based Shallow Seismic Imaging Applications

Yarin Abukrat

Supervisor: Prof. Moshe Reshef

Similar to medical imaging applications such as X-ray, CT and MRI, which enable us to see inside the human body, seismic imaging using geophysical methods allows us to peer inside the earth's subsurface. By integrating several imaging methods, it is possible to explore oil and gas, groundwater, and to detect archeological or other buried objects, for example, voids. In my research, I mainly analyze voids since they pose hazardous threats ranging from severe surface collapses in the form of sinkholes around roads, rail lines, or buildings, to security threats such as cross-border clandestine tunnels.

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a recent technology which uses fiber-optic cables to measure ground-motion vibrations in acoustic frequencies. These are the frequencies of sound waves propagating through the ground, so the fiber functions as if there were thousands of microphones installed along tens of kilometers continuously. In addition, other advantages of DAS systems over the conventional discrete ground-motion sensors are that they are more affordable, very durable and function well even in harsh environments. Moreover, DAS is a nonintrusive tool since once the fiber-optic cable is installed, no further intervention is needed. This is very important in terms of health safety and environment, logistics, and cost reduction.