This special section is dedicated to geophysical distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS) applications. Since the introduction of commercial DTS units in the 1980s and more recent deployment of DAS in this decade, distributed sensing is quietly revolutionizing sectors of geophysics, particularly those requiring permanent downhole measurements. The common component of distributed sensing technologies is the use of laser scattering measurements on fiber-optic cables (tens of kilometers long) to estimate the physical state of each fiber segment with measurands including temperature (DTS), static strain (DSS), and, most recently, dynamic strain and seismic waves (DAS) recorded either continuously or on an as-needed basis. The high spatial coverage, accuracy, and resolution of this technology make it a truly groundbreaking addition to our subsurface sensing toolbox.

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