During the SUBMERSE Community Event in April 2026, this training session focused on the visualisation and preliminary processing of DAS data for oceanographic applications. The trainers demonstrated how to handle high-volume DAS records by using a downsampled dataset from the GeoLab fibre in Madeira. Participants were provided a prepared workflow in Colab to familiarise themselves with how signals change along different segments of a submarine cable, moving from land and the narrow shelf into deep water.
In the following video, HCMR Research Associate Athanasia Papapostolou introduces
the key role of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and State of
Polarisation (SOP) technologies in physical oceanography.
Fiber optic sensing offers a cost-effective approach to monitor and
measure massive global phenomena and climate change, where traditional
sensors are too expensive to deploy. Undersea cables are uniquely
positioned to provide the high-resolution boundary conditions needed for
coastal forecasting models. That's why existing submarine telecom
infrastructures can become a new way to observe and monitor the ocean.