The Optics of Distributed Vibration Sensing

In distributed vibration sensing (DVS) - also known as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology, an optical fibre is deployed in the borehole to be surveyed and is used to detect seismic waves originating from a source outside the well. Although the EAGE and SEG literature describes the results of using DVS for borehole seismic applications, essentially nothing has been written about the underlying optical technology in the geophysics technical literature. This paper therefore outlines the main methods that are probably used by the main participants in the DVS activity, insofar as this can be deduced from publications in the field of fibre optics and the patent literature.