Alaska Transportable Array: Capabilities and Interdisciplinary Instrumentation

Robert Busby, IRIS--Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, busby@iris.edu (Presenter)
Bob Woodward, IRIS--Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, woodward@iris.edu
Kasey Aderhold, IRIS--Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, kasey@iris.edu (Presenter)

The Alaska Transportable Array (ATA) is a network of 280 autonomous earthquake monitoring stations spaced every ~85 km across Alaska and western Canada. Stations operate continuously, powered by photovoltaic panels and a combination of lithium ion and lead acid batteries. Data is telemetered to the Array Network Facility at UC San Diego in real-time (latency less than 10 seconds in summer, within the hour in winter) and made freely available through the IRIS Data Management Center. Along with high quality seismic data, EarthScope has collaborated with the NASA ABoVE field campaign and other partners to add Vaisala meteorological sensors to 132 of the most remote stations. Sampling rates are 1 sample/second and timing is accurate to within a few milliseconds for all data channels including seismic, pressure, infrasound, and meteorological. Self contained soil temperature probes provided by NASA ABoVE and Yukon Geological Survey were also collocated at 78 of the ATA sites. Although that data is not telemetered, it is collected and archived by the UAF Permafrost group led by Vladimir Romanovsky.

The ATA serves as a multi-disciplinary observation platform across a vast region of the Arctic. Stations will continue to be operated through 2019 and then a process of removal will commence. Data collected from the ATA will be used to image the geological structure under Alaska, detect and locate local and regional earthquakes, map out active faults, track rupture patterns of large earthquakes globally, detect volcanic eruptions, record landslides, and monitor weather events. We expect to see methods developed for measuring sea ice extent, detecting ice jams, and other new research applications. Additional instrumentation related to space weather and cameras are considered for future integration if support for such partnerships emerges.

Poster Location ID: 88

Session Assigned: Permafrost and Hydrology