1. A system for estimating fatigue damage in a riser string, the system
comprising:
(a) a plurality of accelerometers configured to be deployed along a riser string;
(b) a communications link configured to transmit accelerometer data in real time from the plurality of accelerometers; and
(c) one or more data processors configured to receive the accelerometer data in real time and to estimate therefrom an optimized current profile along the riser string, and to estimate damage rates to individual riser components based upon the optimized current profile, and to update a total accumulated damage to individual riser string components.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of accelerometers is less than 20 accelerometers.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the communications link is wireless.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the communications link is configured to transmit and receive accelerometer data as acoustic signals.
5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the communications link comprises a plurality of subsea sensing and signal units.
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the subsea sensing and signal units comprise one or more components selected from the group consisting of motion sensors, sensor interface units, batteries, transducers, acoustic modems, memory units, and microprocessors.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the communications link comprises an acoustic receiver.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the communications link is hard-wired.
9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the communications link comprises a fiber optic cable.
10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the communications link comprises a plurality of subsea sensing and signal units.
11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the subsea sensing and signal units comprise one or more components selected from the group consisting of motion sensors, sensor interface units, transducers, optical modems, memory units, and microprocessors.
12. The system according to claim 10, wherein electric power is provided to the subsea sensing and signal units from one or more batteries.
13. The system according to claim 10, wherein electric power is provided to the subsea sensing and signal units from one or more electric power umbilicals.
14. The system according to claim 1, wherein the optimized current profile is generated using one or more machine learning techniques.
15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the machine learning technique includes one or more neural network models, one or more support vector machines, one or more Bayesian analyses, or a combination of two or more of the foregoing analytical techniques.
16. The system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the data processors is configured to provide as a system output one or more graphical data summaries.

17. The system according to claim 20, wherein the system output is a graphical data summary displaying total accumulated fatigue along the riser string in real time.
18. A method of producing a hydrocarbon-containing fluid, the method comprising:
(a) drilling a production well while estimating fatigue damage in a riser
string using a system comprising:
(i) a plurality of accelerometers deployed along a riser string;
(ii) a communications link transmitting accelerometer data in real time from the plurality of accelerometers; and
(iii) one or more data processors receiving the accelerometer data in real time and estimating therefrom an optimized current profile along the riser string, and to estimating damage rates to individual riser components based upon the optimized current profile, and to updating a total accumulated damage to individual riser string components;
(b) completing the production well; and
(c) causing a hydrocarbon-containing fluid to flow from the production well to a storage facility.