PRATA
Photonics for Resilience against Tsunamis in the Atlantic
Aplication of optical submarine telecommunication cables as novel sensors for seismological signals for coastal resilience – early-warning systems for tsunamis.
- Contact personYasser Omar, IST, University of Lisbon & Instituto de Telecomunicações, yasser.omar@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
- StatusProposal
- AbstractProject PRATA aims at exploiting optical submarine telecommunication cables as novel sensors for seismological signals, and develop the necessary technology to use them for coastal resilience, namely for new and more efficient early-warning systems for tsunamis.
Project PRATA addresses directly UN SDG 11, reducing the vulnerability to disasters and improving the resilience of cities and communities in coastal areas. Furthermore, by crosslinking big data from submarine sensors with big data from satellite sensors, project PRATA contributes to the AIR Centre S&T Agenda and Cross-Cutting Initiatives, namely as an integrated approach to oceanic monitoring from deep sea to near space, as well as to use the AIR Centre Data Network. The outcomes of project PRATA will include the development of devices for completely novel sensing capabilities at the bottom of the ocean, as well as their application to the early-warning tsunamis, including the corresponding decision support tools and systems, contributing to reducing the vulnerability to disasters and improving the resilience of cities and communities in coastal areas.
- MethodologyProject PRATA brings together a very interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers (from optical communications, geophysics, data science, etc.) and key stakeholders (telecom companies, local authorities, etc.), to tackle these challenges in the Atlantic Ocean with a very original and comprehensive approach, including the use of both classical and quantum communication technologies for enhanced precision, the use of complementary satellite geophysical data, and the transfer and processing of big data.
It will involve numerical simulations of the cables and of the laser signals, the development of prototype interferometry stations, their deployment and testing in cable terminals, the corresponding data acquisition, the cross-comparison with satellite data, the analysis of big data, the development of predictive models for new and more efficient early-warning systems for tsunamis, and the engagement with civil protection authorities and the population for the exploitation and use of such early-warning systems.
- ConsortiumThe PRATA consortium is currently constituted by: Instituto de Telecomunicações (Portugal), National Physics Laboratory (UK), Instituto Nazionale de Ricerca Metrologica (Italy), Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (Portugal), University of Lisbon (Portugal), University of Malta, Altice Portugal. Furthermore, the following partners are currently formalizing their participation: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Cape Verde), Angola Cables, Governo Regional dos Açores (Portugal). The PRATA consortium is open to additional partners who can contribute to the project’s deployment in the Atlantic Ocean.
