Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing for Homeland Security

To address the need to protect our borders and critical infrastructure, fiber optic sensing technology developed for antisubmarine warfare applications has been adapted to homeland security applications. Ground-based seismic sensing applications have significantly different requirements than traditional underwater acoustic applications. As a result, new optical interrogation and signal processing techniques are needed. Border and critical infrastructure sensor systems must be able to monitor long lengths (several km to several 10s of km) with reasonable spatial resolution (5 to 100 m), and have sufficient seismic sensitivity to detect targets of interest. A fiber optic distributed seismic sensor system was developed that is capable of meeting these requirements.