Technology and Engineering Advances Supporting EarthScope’s Alaska Transportable Array

Abstract:

EarthScope’s Transportable Array (TA) in Alaska and Canada is an ongoing deployment of 261 high quality broadband seismographs. The Alaska TA is the continuation of the rolling TA/USArray deployment of 400 broadband seismographs in the lower 48 contiguous states and builds on the success of the TA project there. The TA in Alaska and Canada is operated by the IRIS Consortium on behalf of the National Science Foundation as part of the EarthScope program. By Sept 2015, it is anticipated that the TA network in Alaska and Canada will be operating 105 stations. During the summer of 2015, TA field crews comprised of IRIS and HTSI station specialists, as well as representatives from our partner agencies the Alaska Earthquake Center and the Alaska Volcano Observatory and engineers from the UNAVCO Plate Boundary Observatory will have completed a total of 36 new station installations. Additionally, we will have completed upgrades at 9 existing Alaska Earthquake Center stations with borehole seismometers and the adoption of an additional 35 existing stations.

Continued development of battery systems using LiFePO4 chemistries, integration of BGAN, Iridium, Cellular and VSAT technologies for real time data transfer, and modifications to electronic systems are a driving force for year two of the Alaska Transportable Array. Station deployment utilizes custom heliportable drills for sensor emplacement in remote regions. The autonomous station design evolution include hardening the sites for Arctic, sub-Arctic and Alpine conditions as well as the integration of rechargeable Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries with traditional AGM batteries

We will present new design aspects, outcomes, and lessons learned from past and ongoing deployments, as well as efforts to integrate TA stations with other existing networks in Alaska including the Plate Boundary Observatory and the Alaska Volcano Observatory.