Optical monitoring of ocean temperature over scales 10m to 10 km

University Of California-San Diego Scripps Inst Of Oceanography, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

It is now possible to monitor parameters such as temperature or strain quasi-continuously over many tens of kilometers using optical fiber technology. These fiber based systems have been developed by the oil industry to monitor the flow and the structural integrity of undersea pipelines. The approach is to transmit high-power laser light down an optical fiber. A small fraction of the transmitted signal is reflected back by the Brilloiun scattering process. The optical frequency of this scattered light differs from the transmitted light by an amount proportional to temperature. The PI's have requested an EAGER award to quantify the Brillouin system?s performance and to evaluate the potential role of this technology to measure precise temperature in ocean monitoring by using it in several demonstrational experiments. Broader Impact: The Brillouin scatter technology has a huge range of potential applications across all fields of oceanography. A fiber laid down the axis of an active spreading center can monitor the space-time injection of warm fluid along the rift. The elevation offset between isotherms on one side of a channel relative to the other can be used to infer the geostrophic flow through the channel, in real time. A fiber floating on the tropical sea surface can monitor the patchy fall of rain (cold) and the daily cycle of heating and cooling.