Measuring Sensor Performance

All DAS systems offer different cost/performance trade-offs. A common concern we hear from customers for Distributed Acoustic Sensing (“DAS”) solutions is that they have difficulty objectively comparing one DAS system with another. Help is at hand with an update to the SEAFOM-MSP-02 standard, Measuring Sensor Performance – DAS Parameter Definitions and Tests which is being co-presented by Sintela’s Dr Peter Kightley lead author for the v2.0 update to SEAFOM MSP-02 on 22/23 February 2024 in London at the first of this year’s SEAFOM meetings.

Clarifying key configuration and performance parameters

Dr Kightley explains that the updated standard clarifies key configuration and performance parameters, test procedures and processing methods. Significantly, it adds a brief introduction to DAS for those seeking a high-level understanding of how the technique works, a new ‘long range self-noise’ test to better reflect long fiber length deployment scenarios, and a ‘fading’ test to evaluate fading mitigation techniques. The update also includes a modification to the test equipment to support long fiber lengths and lateral offset testing.

The benefits of the new standard

This standard facilitates customers wishing to make objective comparisons between fiber-optic DAS systems. Customers should insist that test results from this standard are included in their tender evaluation as it provides a comprehensive set of the objective parameter definitions as well as a set of DAS system performance metrics that can be compared from one DAS system to another. These performance metrics include Dynamic Range, Frequency Response, Fidelity, Self-Noise (also referred to as noise floor) Spatial Resolution, Crosstalk, Loss Budget, Reflection and Signal Fading (a common problem in non-quantitative DAS systems).

If you are looking to buy or use a DAS system and want to find more about how to use SEAFOM MSP-02, v2.0 of the document will be freely available at: