Reviewed by Lexie CornerMar 5 2025
Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel and the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam are developing the SAFAtor (SMART Cables And Fiber-optic Sensing Amphibious Demonstrator) research infrastructure. This system will assist in monitoring oceans.
Potential of SAFAtor: Telecommunication cables can be used as sensors (pink cable) or equipped with sensors (blue cable) both on land and in the sea and the deep sea, thus providing unique data for monitoring climate and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides. Image Credit: M. Dziggel, GFZ
Summary
The global network of telecommunications cables on the ocean floor presents a unique opportunity for scientific use if the fiber-optic cables are equipped with sensors. In response to this, the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel are setting up the SAFAtor (SMART Cables And Fiber-optic Sensing Amphibious Demonstrator) research infrastructure to monitor the oceans.
SAFAtor will be part of the Helmholtz Association's portfolio of major infrastructures and is being funded with a 30 million euro strategic development investment. The project plans to first equip a demonstrator cable with sensor technology, which will be deployed in the deep sea to collect real-time data on climate and geological hazards.
Currently, there is little data available from the seafloor, and SAFAtor aims to address this gap in ocean data. The project is led by Prof. Dr. Fabrice Cotton, a GFZ scientist heading the "Seismic Hazard and Risk Dynamics" section. Co-PIs include Prof. Dr. Charlotte Krawczyk, Director of the GFZ Department of Geophysics, who will take over leadership in two and a half years, Prof. Dr. Frederik Tilmann, Head of the "Seismology" section, and Prof. Laura Wallace, Head of the GEOMAR Research Unit "Marine Geodynamics."
The five-year SAFAtor project will begin with a kick-off meeting at the GFZ on Potsdam's Telegrafenberg on March 5-6, 2025.
Closing the Ocean Data Gap
Seventy percent of the planet is covered by oceans, but compared to the continents, there is limited scientific data available from them. This is because the ocean floor is difficult to access and lacks sufficient measuring stations.
There is a huge gap in our observational data, which makes it difficult for us to better understand the effects of climate change on the oceans or the causes of geological hazards like earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcano eruptions.
Dr. Charlotte Krawczyk, Professor, Director and Head, Department of Geophysics, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
“We want to close this gap with SAFAtor,” said Krawczyk.
Krawczyk is the director of the GFZ Department of Geophysics and heads the "Geophysical Imaging" section. She played a key role in initiating and advancing the project.
How SAFAtor Works
The project partners, GFZ and GEOMAR, plan to install specialized sensor technology on an underwater telecommunications cable over the next five years. To do this, approximately 40 sensor stations will be connected to the cable, ideally at the repeater stations, spaced 20 to 30 km apart before installation.
These sensors will provide continuous real-time data on ground movement, pressure, and temperature. The uninterrupted flow of telecommunications traffic must be ensured. Fiber-optic cables with integrated sensor technology are also called SMART (Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications) cables.
Telecommunications cables run across the oceans and have to be replaced every 25 years. If we use SMART cables for this, we will be able to achieve simple and comparatively inexpensive sensor coverage of the ocean floor and coastal areas.
Fabrice Cotton, Project Coordinator, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
“The design of the project was a great team effort involving researchers from different disciplines and different age. The European and international integration of this project was taken into account from the outset, and the project is supported by about twenty international organizations,” added Cotton.
He is also leading the European GeoINQUIRE project, which is pioneering the distribution of this groundbreaking data to researchers.
Coverage of the Deep Sea and Coastal Areas
The exact route of the SAFAtor cable is still being determined, with potential locations including the Mediterranean, the Arctic, and areas off New Zealand. This project aims to set a precedent for future efforts, providing valuable practical and scientific insights to support the installation of similar measurement systems on other submarine cables.
For continuous coastal monitoring, three key locations have been chosen: the North Anatolian fault zone near Istanbul, due to its high seismic risk; Etna, one of Europe's most active volcanoes; and the northern Chilean subduction zone, a region prone to frequent strong earthquakes. These sites will use fiber-optic technology, where the cable itself functions as a sensor, to detect minute ground movements through light pulse analysis.
All newly collected cable data will be made centrally accessible. To manage this, a data service is being set up at the GFZ, which will also store future cable data.
The Helmholtz Association thus has the unique opportunity to take a leading global role in the development of these tethered sensor systems and in the dissemination of the new observational data.
Dr. Frederik Tilmann, Professor and Head, Seismology, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
New Climate, Ocean, and Geological Data
This new dataset is expected to greatly improve understanding of ocean dynamics and their impact on climate change. It will also play a key role in enhancing knowledge of geological risks, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, and in accelerating alerts for critical events. In addition to these areas, the data will support research on marine ecosystems.
Laura Wallace from GEOMAR said: “Real-time monitoring of processes on Earth is the key to protecting society from natural hazards and the effects of climate change. With the help of SAFAtor, we can provide high-resolution data not only for earthquake and tsunami studies, but also for oceanography and climate science, with an infrastructure that has a minimal ecological footprint.”
The Expertise of the Participating Helmholtz Centers
Drawing on its extensive experience in managing global and regional observatories and large datasets, the GFZ is central to the SAFAtor project. The team will lead the expansion of coastal observatories, assist in the selection and instrumentation of a demonstrator cable with SMART sensors, and establish the infrastructure for processing, archiving, and sharing new data following the FAIR principles: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
GEOMAR, with its expertise in submarine technology development, will play a key role in integrating SMART sensor technology into deep-sea cables for the SAFAtor project. They are supported by Helmholtz centers AWI and Hereon, who are providing their COSYNA underwater infrastructure near Helgoland for development purposes. In addition, SAFAtor benefits from substantial national and international support from scientific consortia, institutes, industry, and network operators.