iDAS™

intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensor

Enabling true acoustic measurements with finer spatial resolution, wider coverage and lower noise in environments where no other sensor can go.

Silixa’s intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensor (iDASTM) uses the phase of Rayleigh backscattered light to demodulate dynamic strain events along an optical fibre. The iDAS can measure changes in local axial strain to picometre (1x10-12) resolution and has a broad signal frequency detection bandwidth from millihertz to >50 kilohertz with the widest dynamic range on the market.

By uniquely limiting inherent instrument noise present in other DAS sensors, iDAS achieves unrivalled and consistent low noise performance through time and over distance. This makes it a highly versatile instrument suited to a wide range of applications such as passive and active seismic surveys, flow characterisation and critical infrastructure monitoring.

Extract maximum value from the data with truly phase-coherent, repeatable and quantitative acoustic measurements that allow a wide variety of array processing techniques.

Easily access legacy installations for new acoustic surveys using the inherent flexibility to measure on singlemode or multimode optical fibre with equal performance.

User-friendly and intuitive on-board control software with system setup wizard and real-time acoustic data visualisation and QC.

Minimise downtime over months or years of acquisition with stable and robust data acquisition.

Highly reliable sensor array capable of acquiring data with up to 40,000 measurement channels per connected optical fibre and with selectable channel spacing down to 25 centimetres.

Capable of monitoring on multiple independent optical fibres when paired with an architecturally integrated optical switch.

Proven performance in remote and hostile deployment environments with simple remote configuration and operation.

Real-time or post-processed advanced data visualisation using Silixa’s suite of application software tools.

Silixa’s iDAS interrogator launches pulses of laser light into an optical fibre at frequencies up to 100kHz. It precisely measures the changing Rayleigh backscattered light signal through time, thereby measuring the full acoustic field along a fibre with high temporal and spatial resolution.

iDAS
iDAS measurement of s and p‑waves from a regional earthquake on ~8km of direct buried cable as part of the PoroTomo geothermal project at Brady Hot Springs, Nevada. Dynamic strain measurement from a single IDAS sampling location shown as black overlay.

 

From the measured light signal, the iDAS system demodulates dynamic strain events at every sampling location along the optical fibre. The iDAS measures, in a moving window centered on the channel location, the relative strain between two sections of fiber separated by a gauge length. The iDAS response is linearly proportional to the fiber elongation over a gauge length, and the time varying dynamic output signal from the system is calibrated to true strain rate.

Continuous or triggered modes of data acquisition with constant time synchronisation, accurate to within 40 ns of true UTC time, with use of either GPS or Precision-Time-Protocol (PTP).

Contained within a compact 4U, 19″ rack-mountable chassis, the iDAS also features 3.7 TB of on-board high-speed data storage capable of saving up to 250 MB/s.

Low operational power consumption of <186 watts.

Simple integration with external acquisition systems using in-built triggering functionality. iDAS can act as master or slave.

High-speed, high-volume data transfer ready achieved via 2x PCIx4 connections to conventional hard disk arrays or to a network location via 2x 10Gb SFP+ ethernet adaptors, both capable of 300 MB/s data rates.

Easy remote operation and control made possible with 2x 1 Gb ethernet adaptors.

Downloads

iDAS data sheet

TECHNOLOGY

iDAS™

iDAS-MG™

Carina® Sensing System

iDSS™

XT-DTS™

ULTIMA-DTS™

Heat Pulse System

Cables

Cable Orientation Beacon

TECHNOLOGY

iDAS™

iDAS-MG™

Carina® Sensing System

iDSS™

XT-DTS™

ULTIMA-DTS™

Heat Pulse System

Cables

Cable Orientation Beacon