Students walk on Penn State s University Park campus.
Image: Patrick Mansell, Penn State
Underground fiber optic sensors record sounds of COVID lockdown, reopening
Matthew Carroll
June 28, 2021
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In March 2020, daily life in the United States changed in an instant as the country locked down to deal with the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. New research reveals how residents in one community returned to their routines as the restrictions lifted, according to a team of Penn State scientists.
“We used sound signals captured by underground fiber-optic sensors to understand how COVID measures impacted human activities,” said Junzhu Shen, a graduate student in geosciences at Penn State. “These sensors provide very accurate, high-resolution data that can help us understand what’s happening in our communities.”
Underground fiber optic sensors record sounds of COVID lockdown, reopening
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Internet fiber optics could provide valuable insight into geological phenomena
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Internet fiber optics could provide valuable insight into geological phenomena
Bird’s eye view of the fiber-optic cables used for the FORESEE project in which scientists used pre-existing cables to monitor geological events.
Image: FORESEE, Penn State
Fiber-optic cables run underneath nearly all city grids across the United States and provide internet and cable TV to millions, but what if those systems could also provide valuable information related to hazardous events such as earthquakes and flooding? A team of researchers at Penn State have found they can do just that.
The scientists are using fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology to turn existing telecommunication infrastructure that is already installed underground into a valuable resource for monitoring ground vibrations.
Internet fiber optics could provide valuable insight into geological phenomena
eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.