Seafloor fibre-optic cables are being used to detect a variety of marine phenomena and ocean parameters, including temperature, turbulence, tides, breaking waves, ice dynamics, storms, tsunamis, earthquakes and marine mammals. The ongoing expansion of distributed optical fibre sensing (DOFS) techniques, including distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and interferometric methods, is significantly improving signal to noise, resolution and reach from shore for these measurements. In addition, new applications for ocean and environmental sensing are continually being discovered. This session aims to bring together those working on method development, data analysis and interpretation, and especially oceanographers interested in the applications and capabilities of these methods for future observations. DOFS has the potential to transform ocean environmental sensing, leveraging an extensive existing global cable network to make measurements across a broad range of resolutions and scales, filling in key gaps in conventional observation systems.

We welcome contributions across all aspects of marine fibre-optic sensing, including:

• Method development (DTS, DAS, SMART cables, etc) and derivation of new ocean or seafloor parameters
• DOFS observations of oceanographic, acoustic, biological, geological, meteorological , cryospheric or anthropogenic phenomena
• Calibrations, comparisons, and integrations of fibre-optic data with conventional in-situ or remote sensing techniques

• Coastal and Estuarine Hydrodynamics and Sediment Processes -
• Marine Ecology and Biodiversity -
• Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Smaller -