Sensors from one fiber
Distributed measurements turn ordinary cable into a continuous spatial array.
University of Washington · Seattle
Fiber sensing
for a changing planet
We turn optical fiber into dense arrays of sensors—revealing motion and change across ice, ocean, cities, and the solid Earth.
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What we do
A hair-thin cable.
Thousands of measurements.
The FiberLab’s mission is to enable transformative science through easily deployed optical fiber sensing.
Our lab deploys optical sensing in cryospheric, offshore, urban, and borehole environments. Our expertise spans submarine cables, remote field operations, optical multiplexing on lit telecommunications fiber, and GPU-based edge computing.
Meet the people behind the signals02
From photons to insight
Extreme environments
From subglacial boreholes to seafloor cables, we build for difficult places.
Data at the edge
GPU workflows surface useful signals from high-volume streams in the field.
Open pathways
Documented datasets and reproducible examples accelerate new science.
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Selected field programs
Fiber goes where the questions are.
View all projects & data04
See fiber sensing in action
Listening to the Earth with existing infrastructure.
UW researchers Brad Lipovsky and Marine Denolle explain how fiber-optic cables can capture ground motion with remarkable density.
Work with an example dataset05
Supported by
Bring us the hard measurement