Retrofiting Existing Optical Fiber Infrastructure to Mitigate Geohazard Risk: The TGP Case

Optical fiber cables (OFC) are well known for their use in communications. They offer long distance and fast transmission rate capabilities. OFC are the perfect companion of hydrocarbon and water transport system as part of the physical layer of the communication services and SCADA of the operating companies. As an example, the TGP system has more than 1400 km of cables laid in its Right-of-Way (ROW) which are in use since the beginning of its operation in 2004. More recently OFC started to be used as sensors. In such applications, a communication cable (CC) can be turned into a continuous temperature sensor allowing for leak and erosion detection. A strain monitoring cable (SMC) can also be spliced to the CC for landslide and subsidence detection in selected areas. In the case of very large soil displacement, it is common to observe the strain induced on the CC. From what precedes, existing OFC infrastructures can be taken advantage of to retrofit pipelines with monitoring instrumentation. The current work describes how an existing CC is retrofitted to provide information about the TGP transport system’s integrity. When accurate monitoring of a landslide is required, a dedicated sensing cable is installed locally and connected to the CC. Elsewhere the CC is being measured to detect and locate events as erosion or landslide in position where the geohazard risk present lower probability. Such approach not only improves geohazard risk management, but it also indicates early sign of stress on the cable that can lead to its rupture, mitigating service interruption probability.

Interreg Atlantic Area AGEO Project – Explaining natural hazards and the role of citizen observatories through storytelling

<p>The Platform for Atlantic Geohazard Risk Management (AGEO) is a project co-financed under the Interreg Programme for the Atlantic Area that aims to launch five Citizens’ Observatory pilots on geohazards according to regional priorities:</p><ul><li>Citizens’ observatory on rockfalls and rockfall-triggers in the <strong>Canary Islands, Spain</strong></li> <li>Citizens’ observatory on rockfalls and rockfall-triggers in <strong>Giants' Causeway and Carrick-a-rede, Northern Ireland</strong></li> <li>Multihazard Citizens Observatory in <strong>Lisbon, Portugal</strong></li> <li>Citizens’ observatory of slope instability monitoring in <strong>Madeira island, Portugal</strong></li> <li>Citizens’ observatory of vulnerability to coastal Risks in <strong>Brittany, france</strong></li> </ul><p>These pilots will demonstrate how citizens’ involvement in geohazard risks prevention can strengthen regional and national risk management systems. The consortium is led by the Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal) andcounts with several other partners from Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom.</p><p>Experiences gained during the implementation of the Citizens’ Observatory pilots will be used to formulate recommendations for the creation of future observatories in response to the widest range of hazards (both natural and human-induced) faced in the Atlantic region. Engaging citizens in Citizens Observatories requires the development of outreach strategies seeking to understand expectations and develop attitudes, behaviours and competencies relevant for the aims and activities of the observatories.</p><p>The AGEO Consortium identified and targeted relevant stakeholders using Mendelow’s (1991) power-interest matrix, and developed perceptual maps of stakeholders, adapted for each of the five Citizens’ Observatory pilots. This approach was the basis for the development of tailored value propositions formulated to raise awareness on geohazards  and mobilize citizens participation.</p><p>AGEO is also using storytelling to inspire the general public to action and emotionally implicate non-specialised audiences. This approach is being used to educate children at school age and to reach their parents (in the pilot regions).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Mendelow, A. L., 1991. Environmental Scanning: The Impact of the Stakeholder Concept. Proceedings from the Second International Conference on Information Systems 407-418. Cambridge, MA.https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis1981/20/</p>

MAPPING AND MONITORING GROUND INSTABILITIES WITH SENTINEL-1 DATA: THE EXPERIENCE OF SERNAGEOMIN

The application of Satellite Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a reliable solution as a tool for mapping and monitoring geohazards. Few years ago, the main applications of these techniques were devoted to science. However, nowadays, the easy access to SAR imagery and the maturity of the techniques to exploit these type of data has widened the user’s spectrum from only scientists to professional and decision makers. The advent of Sentinel-1 satellites has significantly contributed to this achievement. In particular, in the field of geohazard risk management, Sentinel-1 has solved one of the main constraining factors that hindered the operational use of interferometric techniques in the past: the lack of systematic acquisition plans. In this context, Sentinel-1 assures worldwide coverage with short temporal baselines (6 to 24 days). This has supposed a definitive step towards the implementation of DInSAR based techniques to support decision makers against geohazards. In this work, we show the first experiences of the remote sensing unit of the Geological and Mining Survey of Chile (Sernageomin) with Sentinel-1 data. Three different case studies in different areas of the Chilean territory are presented. The examples illustrate how DInSAR based techniques can provide different levels of information about geohazard activity in different environments.

Slope Movement Inspection Using Axial Strain Data Across Multiple Lines and Repeat Inspections

Axial strain inspection using the AXISS™ is an established tool in the pipeline operator’s toolbox to assess pipeline geotechnical threats and other strain related events. Consequently, there is a large database of axial strain data for several different pipelines operating in different environments and from multiple inspections at the same geographical locations. The Cheecham slope, located south east of Fort McMurray, Alberta, is a known geohazard site crossed by six individual pipelines. The lines were constructed between 1999 and 2013 and have a size range of 10” to 36”. Five out of the six lines, 12” to 36”, have been inspected using the axial strain tool. The pipelines inspected cover a range of characteristics including, different vintages, pipe diameters and positions in the ROW. These differences, and the ILI runs provide an insight into the effect of a landslide event on the strain response of these pipelines. Axial strain measurement of the multiple pipelines in the Cheecham slope’s ROW allows: i) a direct comparison between lines ii) evaluation of the strain profile across the slope iii) assessment of the magnitude of the axial strain in terms of pipe characteristics e.g. pipe vintage and mechanical properties. More importantly, the axial strain data may provide an additional tool to assess the effectiveness of strain mitigation steps carried out over the years. An increase in the frequency of axial strain ILI runs resulted in additional data being available and more importantly data from run to run inspections spread over months or sometime years. A single run captures the strain at the time of inspection but run to run inspections provide an additional comparative tool to evaluate and monitor pipeline movement. Two out of the five lines inspected have run to run axial strain data. This paper takes the Cheecham slope as a case study to discuss the benefits of run comparison of ILI axial strain data either by comparing strain values of repeated runs for a single line or by the cross comparison of strain responses of different lines in the same ROW. The paper aims to demonstrate how run to run analysis of ILI axial strain data can be implemented as part of geohazard risk management program to asses strain risk profiles of these locations and to assess the effectiveness of strain mitigation programs previously undertaken by operators.