Since the early 2000s, large-scale deployments such as USArray and Hi-Net have driven the rise of dense seismic arrays, boosted by advances in autonomous seismic nodes and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS). These technologies, combined with methods like array processing and seismic interferometry, enable unprecedented spatial resolution for imaging, seismicity studies, and monitoring geological processes across scales.
This growth brings challenges in deployment, maintenance, and data management. Instrument management, including the lack of standards for nodal and DAS acquisitions, issues for calibration, synchronization, and maintenance of large numbers of sensors, requires streamlined processes and innovative approaches. The field operations for the installation, maintenance, and recovery of dense seismic arrays, often in remote or challenging environments, require smart solutions to maintain data quality and continuity while easing the logistical burden. Last but not least, managing the large volumes of data generated by these dense deployments necessitates efficient data handling, storage, processing, and analysis techniques (cloud computing, machine learning, etc.), alongside user-friendly tools and standardized protocols for metadata tracking and archiving.
We aim to split the session into two parts: a technical one where engineers and network operators have a space to show their latest work, and a scientific one where researchers will be able to showcase their latest results. Therefore, this session invites contributions addressing the operational, logistical, technical, and data management challenges associated with dense seismic arrays. We particularly welcome discussions on instrument comparisons, the development of practical tools for deployment strategies (such as QField or alternatives), or for instrument access (including how to access the European nodal pools and the DAS interrogators available for collaboration), data management, and metadata standardization (e.g., initiatives through ORFEUS, EPOS or European projects such as Geo-INQUIRE). Additionally, the session encourages submissions presenting innovative scientific and methodological developments, applications, and cutting-edge results, including imaging, array analysis, seismicity monitoring, derived from dense seismic networks and DAS deployments (or other distributed fiber-optic sensing methods) across all scales, from local to regional and global investigations.