Advances in Marine Intelligent Electromagnetic Detection System, Technology, and Applications: A Review

This paper introduces the state of the art in marine intelligent electromagnetic detection sensors, systems and platforms for the detection and health monitoring of offshore structures, especially for subsea cables and pipelines. The presented survey is by no means exhaustive, but introduce some notable results and relevant techniques in the detection and inspection of marine structure electromagnetic monitoring fields. Particularly, this paper presents a review of the main research works focusing on electromagnetic detection techniques and intelligent marine vehicles for subsea cables. The marine electromagnetic exploration techniques are elaborated as active and passive detections based on different electromagnetic field generation and sensing principles. The pulse induction-based detection method for subsea ferromagnetic lines detection, transient and controlled-source electromagnetic systems in marine geological fields under the category of active detection approach, are reviewed. According to the classical applications on subsea cable-like target inspection, the passive detection approach is detailed classified as crisscrossing detection and along-tracking detection, which are characterised by different trajectories of detection vehicles. Finally, the paper discusses the marine electromagnetic detection techniques in general and highlights challenges that need to be addressed in developing detection vehicles with lower electromagnetic noises and advanced autonomy on carrying out detection missions.