Advancing Dark-Fiber DAS Technology for Seismic, Infrastructure, and Environmental Monitoring

Summary This research highlights the development and deployment of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) using existing dark-fiber infrastructure in South Korea. By transforming unused fiber-optic cables into large-scale sensing networks, the study demonstrates dark-fiber DAS as a viable alternative to conventional monitoring systems for earthquakes, traffic analysis, and underground anomaly detection. Field deployments in Pyeongtaek, Daejeon, Paju, and Gyeongju showcased its sensing capabilities across diverse scenarios. Notable contributions include signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis, tunnel detection near the DMZ, traffic-induced vibration classification, and the use of channel back-tracking to address metadata uncertainty. The outcomes position dark-fiber DAS as a promising solution for next-generation geophysical and infrastructure monitoring.