New funding for NZ-UK collaboration on seismic sensing

We're delighted to announce that MSL has been successful in the latest funding round from Quantum Technologies Aotearoa. Dr Johan Grand from our time team will use the grant to expand on an already very productive collaboration with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL)(external link).

In 2024, NPL and MSL joined forces with Southern Cross Cables Limited(external link) to deploy an optical interferometry system onto an existing subsea telecoms cable across the Tasman. This system turns the cable into an ocean-spanning array of environmental sensors and seismometers.

In its first year, the system detected signatures of more than 100 seismic events, including both local and regional earthquakes.

The additional funding from QTA runs until the end of 2028, and it will be used to strengthen the collaboration, improve the sensitivity of the system, and to process and send the data more easily to our collaborators at Earth Sciences New Zealand(external link).

We're proud to be using metrology to improve and expand New Zealand’s national hazard preparedness network.

For more on this ground-breaking collaboration, read our latest case study