DAS and Seismic Innovation: What Geophysicists Need to Know

"For early career geophysicists, I think it's really important to understand that DAS is going to have a unique role in reservoir management, be it onshore or offshore." Distributed acoustic sensing is opening new possibilities for how geophysicists collect and use seismic data. Ali Tura shares practical insights from his experience and highlights how these ideas will be explored further in his upcoming course on DAS applications. He explains how the technology’s sensitivity, wide frequency range, and cost advantages make it valuable, while also emphasizing the importance of understanding its limitations. Learn more and register for the course (13-16 July 2026) at https://seg.org/shop/product/?id=product&id=ed9c4ebc-48dc-f011-8544-7c1e525cc2b5. KEY TAKEAWAYS > DAS sensitivity and bandwidth: DAS can detect extremely small signals across a very wide frequency range, making it useful for everything from geomechanics to seismic monitoring. > Cost and operational efficiency: Using existing fiber optic infrastructure allows teams to run surveys at much lower cost, especially for repeated monitoring like 4D seismic or CO2 storage. > Fit-for-purpose application: DAS is powerful but not universal, so success depends on choosing the right use case, deployment method, and survey design. GUEST BIO Ali Tura is Professor of Geophysics and Co-director of the Reservoir Characterization Project at Colorado School of Mines. His expertise is in the areas of petroleum systems, reservoir characterization and monitoring, seismic methods, CO2 and sequestration, fiber optics technology, and data analytics. He is also Chief Scientist at Tulip Geosciences, a geosciences consulting and training company. Before this, he was Geophysical Senior Fellow at ConocoPhillips, Geophysical Advisor at Chevron, and 4D subject matter expert at Shell. He has been an SEG member and active in the industry for more than 37 years and served as SEG Vice-president, Board of Directors of SEG-SEAM Inc., Chairman of the SEG Research Committee, Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Leading Edge, and Chairman of the SEG Global Affairs Committee. ABOUT SEISMIC SOUNDOFF Seismic Soundoff showcases conversations addressing the challenges of energy, water, and climate. Produced by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) and hosted by Andrew Geary of 51 features, these episodes celebrate and inspire the geophysicists of today and tomorrow. Three new episodes monthly. See the full archive at https://seg.org/resources/podcast/.