Fibre-Optic Sensing with Ambient Noise for Improved Understanding of Landslide Behaviour

Landslides are natural hazards, commonly triggered by heavy rainfall, glacier melt, and permafrost degradation. This project explores an emerging fibre-optic sensing technology, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which can enhance our understanding of slope failure processes. DAS transforms fibre-optic cables into thousands of sensors capable of detecting small-scale ground deformation in near-real-time. This project will apply coda wave interferometry to DAS data collected from a slow-moving landslide to investigate changes occurring within unstable slopes. This method uses the ambient seismic wavefield to infer changes in shear-wave velocity, a parameter closely linked to soil rigidity. By identifying shear-wave velocity changes associated with slope deformation, this project aims to improve landslide characterization. These insights could inform slope stability monitoring strategies at other sites such as tailings dams.

Faculty Supervisor:

Daniel Shugar;Jan Dettmer

Student:

Partner:

Lumidas

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program: