[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.6″ custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ module_class=”reverse-columns-mobile” _builder_version=”4.17.6″ min_height=”100px” custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”roboto-regular||||||||” text_text_color=”#003a7c” custom_margin=”||75px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”||15px||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]On a lake near Bremerhaven, scientists are testing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) as a means of detecting surface and underwater drones.<\/p>\n
Credits: DLR[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” bottom_divider_style=”wave2″ bottom_divider_color=”#DFE6EE” bottom_divider_height=”40px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” custom_margin=”||100px||false|false” sticky_enabled=”0″]Targeted collisions in wind farms, destroyed pipelines and severed data cables are scenarios that no one wants to think about, but it is important to prepare for them. \u201cSecurity threats like these are usually the result of human action \u2013 for example, with ships and other vehicles operating in the vicinity of these facilities,\u201d says Frank Sill Torres, Director of the DLR Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures in Bremerhaven. Cargo ships measuring 100 metres or more in length, in particular, are potentially dangerous, whilst smaller boats can damage data cables \u2013 for example, with trawl nets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWind farms, in particular, need to be protected \u2013 especially the central converter platforms,\u201d says Sill Torres. Another threat is ships of the so-called shadow fleet that often deactivate or manipulate the position signal of their automatic identification system (AIS) to conduct their illegal activities without detection. \u201cThe challenge is identifying these ships specifically \u2013 the ones that want to remain invisible or the rust bucket tankers that masquerade as harmless fishing boats.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Sill Torres, an electrical engineer with a PhD, that is why it is so important to know what is going in the direct vicinity of maritime facilities \u201cSituational awareness, the ongoing tracking of developments, is of the utmost importance.\u201d The DLR can draw on many years of experience in the aerospace industry and use satellites and airborne sensor systems for monitoring.<\/p>\n
The greatest challenge in the maritime industry is the large expanses of water. He adds: \u201cYou can\u2019t install cameras everywhere, and existing satellites can\u2019t monitor everywhere at the same time.\u201d As they circle the earth, there are inevitably temporal and spatial gaps in surveillance.<\/p>\n
Theoretically, monitoring would be possible with a large number of satellites, but that would be very costly and just about impossible to finance. \u201cThere need to be more affordable security solutions,\u201d says Sill Torres. And drones are still hampered by their limited flight times. \u201cEven high-performance models with up to twelve hours of flight time would have to return twice a day for recharging \u2013 it would take multiple drones in the air at the same time to ensure full coverage.\u201d[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ module_class=”dtb-sticky” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_sidebar area=”et_pb_widget_area_7″ show_border=”off” admin_label=”Werbung Startseite \/ Artikel” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_sidebar][et_pb_sidebar area=”et_pb_widget_area_9″ show_border=”off” admin_label=”Werbung Artikel” _builder_version=”4.16″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” top_divider_style=”arrow2″ top_divider_color=”#DFE6EE” top_divider_height=”30px” bottom_divider_style=”waves2″ bottom_divider_color=”#DFE6EE” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]The institute\u2019s ongoing project \u201cAnalysis systems for the early detection of potential threats to critical undersea infrastructure\u201d (AFKUI), which has received funding of 3.3 million euros from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, has therefore opted for a different approach. It adds an underwater component to the operational picture for authorities, demonstrating the additional benefit of a technology that does not provide images, but listens. \u201cA promising technology that we\u2019re currently researching is distributed acoustic sensing,\u201d explains Enno Peters, Head of the Sensors Working Group at the institute. DAS, as it is abbreviated, simply reports that there is something here. A pulsed laser emits light pulses approximately every millisecond \u2013 ultimately 1,000 hertz \u2013 in a glass fibre that is up to 100 kilometres long \u2013 for example, along a power or export cable to an offshore wind farm in the North or Baltic Sea. The key trick here lies in analysing the phase of the light: \u201cIf a vibration or an acoustic signal hits the fibre, there\u2019s a minimal shift in its structure. And that can be measured through the phase of the light.\u201d<\/p>\n
The light is continuously backscattered, and the transit time can be measured to pinpoint the exact section of the fibre that the signal is coming from. This, in turn, makes it possible to determine if something is happening and where \u2013 without a camera or visual contact, but simply by listening in the cable. Further information \u2013 like the speed and size of an object \u2013 can be obtained in this way.
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.logistics-pilot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/IMG_3277_ok-c-DLR_800.jpg” alt=”Two men are standing at the open rear of a vehicle, looking at a monitor displaying measurement data; one is wearing an orange high-visibility jacket and is pointing at the screen.” title_text=”Two people are looking at a screen ” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||15px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”roboto-regular||||||||” text_text_color=”#003a7c” custom_margin=”||25px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”||15px||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]Though it looks like a typical server rack, the interrogator unit transforms a 100-kilometre submarine cable into a sensor. The enormous volume of raw data is analysed directly on site, with only a warning sent afterwards.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin=”||25px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
\u201cDue in large part to their propellers and engines, ships generate distinctive vibrations, which travel through the water and along the sea floor to the cable,\u201d explains Peters. For larger ships, the frequencies typically lie between 10 and 60 hertz. \u201cBecause every ship generates a slightly different vibration profile, we\u2019re optimistic that we\u2019ll be able to classify them in the future \u2013 whether it\u2019s a large or small ship, container ship or smuggling vessel. It\u2019s an exciting field of research that\u2019s still evolving.\u201d The quality of the signal is also dependent on the depth of the cable in the sediment and water. The hardware was not developed by the institute, but is a proven technology already used along railway lines for train location and monitoring, for example.<\/p>\n
The system has two areas of application in the project. For perimeter protection, a cable is installed around an infrastructure like an LNG terminal, a wind farm or a port entrance. It responds when something like a diver, an autonomous underwater vehicle or a motorboat approaches at night. No cameras would be able to capture that.
The second area of application is maritime surveillance, which uses the existing submarine cable between the coast and offshore wind farm, with the DAS device connected on land. The cable acts as a hydrophone array, registering everything that passes above. As the system can identify both approved and suspicious ships, other sources of data must be connected. If the cable reports a ship without AIS signal, radar satellite can be used to determine if something is actually there. Authorities can then respond accordingly \u2013 for example, with a drone or a visual satellite image.<\/p>\n
A live demo at the end of the project in 2029 will prove that it works in practice: a ship with deactivated AIS will pass over the cable and an autonomous underwater vehicle will pass underneath it \u2013 the system should be able to identify both and automatically sound the alarm. \b(cb)<\/em>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ module_class=”dtb-sticky” _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.logistics-pilot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Frank-Sill-Torres_500px.png” alt=”Portrait of Frank Sill Torres” title_text=”Portrait of Frank Sill Torres” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”25px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ header_3_text_color=”#002e5b” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”||40px||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Frank Sill Torres, Director of the DLR Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures in Bremerhaven.[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.logistics-pilot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Enno-Peters_500px.png” alt=”Portrait of Enno Peters” title_text=”Portrait of Enno Peters” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin=”150px||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”25px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ header_3_text_color=”#002e5b” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||150px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”||40px||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Enno Peters, Head of the Sensors Working Group at the institute[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_blurb title=”Facts” _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”|||on|||||” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font_size=”16px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||20px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”25px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_css_blurb_title=”display: inline-block!important;||background: #002754!important;||padding: 5px 13px 3px 13px!important;||position: relative!important;” border_width_bottom=”1px” border_color_bottom=”#002754″ global_colors_info=”{}” header_text_color__hover_enabled=”on|desktop” header_text_color__hover=”rgba(255,255,255,0.71)” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ custom_margin=”||60px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n\u201cSecurity threats are usually the result of human action.\u201d<\/h3>\n
\u201cShips generate distinctive vibrations, which travel through the water and along the sea floor to the cable.\u201d<\/h3>\n
DLR Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures<\/h2>\n