Date of Award

2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Ocean Engineering

Department

Ocean Engineering

First Advisor

Christopher Baxter

Abstract

The use of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) has gained popularity for a variety of seismic sensing applications due to its capability to sense broadband frequency ranges on spatial scales unattainable with conventional point sensors. The ability to sense and characterize vibrational surface waves in the near-surface can provide valuable information about the subsurface structure of an environment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of DAS to sense surface wave propagation for the multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW) methodology, such that a sub-surface shear wave velocity profile can be obtained in both a terrestrial and near-shore marine environment. Testing was performed at two field sites in Rhode Island, one terrestrial and one marine, where DAS was utilized to sense the dispersion of Rayleigh and Scholte waves due to active source seismic impacts, respectively. The MASW methodology was applied to the data in each case, and the results were compared to historical surveys characterizing the subsurface structure in each environment. The results showed that reasonable sub-surface sediment profiles could be fit to match historical data for both the terrestrial and marine experiments.

Comments

Funding and support for this research was provided by the National Institute for Undersea Vehicle Technology (NIUVT) through the Office of Naval Research (ONR). This work relates to Department of Navy award N00014-21-1-4009 issued by the Office of Naval Research. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.

The content of this Master’s Thesis has been removed because it is CUI.

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