Abstacts on the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory in the Pacific Northwest of
the United States from AGU (American Geophyscial Union) Annual Meeting, 2009
The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System
SAO/NASA ADS Physics Abstract Service
http://www.adsabs.harvard.edu/
Title:
The EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)
High-rate Real-time Cascadia network
Authors:
Jackson, M. E.; Austin, K. E.; Borsa, A. A.;
Eriksson, S. C.; Feaux, K.; Williams, T. B.
Affiliation:
UNAVCO, Boulder, CO, United States;
Publication:
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009,
abstract #G21A-05
Publication Date: 12/2009
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
[1209] GEODESY AND GRAVITY / Tectonic deformation,
[1294] GEODESY AND GRAVITY / Instruments and
techniques
Bibliographic Code: 2009AGUFM.G21A..05J
Abstract
As part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), NSF is
investing in onshore-offshore instrumentation to support studies of the Cascadia
margin. EarthScope's Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) will upgrade all 232 of its
GPS stations in the Pacific Northwest to high-rate sampling and real-time telemetry
and provide streaming data from this network to the public for scientific research,
education, and hazard monitoring. This effort expands UNAVCO’s real-time GPS
operations beyond its current pilot project of 100 stations to include a
comprehensive regional network that spans the states of Washington and Oregon,
and extends south into California to the Mendocino triple junction. By blanketing the
Pacific Northwest with real-time GPS coverage, the NSF is hoping to create a natural
laboratory in an area of great scientific interest and high geophysical hazard in
order to spur new volcano and earthquake research opportunities. Streaming highrate data in real-time will enable researchers to routinely analyze for strong ground
motion monitoring and earthquake hazards mitigation. For stations with collocated
meteorological instruments, met data will be streamed as well, opening the
possibility for combined GPS/met processing in real time by the atmospheric
community. Finally, the new funding also expands opportunities for research using
high-rate GPS data from a large-aperture network, since 1 Hz streams will be
permanently archived and freely available via FTP. PBO will provide 1Hz-streaming
data in BINEX, RTCM2.3 and RTCM 3.0 formats via the NTrip protocol, from servers
located at UNAVCO headquarters in Boulder, CO. Data latency will vary according to
the telemetry deployed at each station, but is expected to range from 0.5~2.0
seconds given recent improvements in PBO's real-time streaming capabilities.
Title:
The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) Network in the
PNW region of the United States
Authors:
Hafner, K.; Austin, K.; Feaux, K.;
Jackson, M.; Fengler, K.; Doelger, S.
Affiliation:
UNAVCO, Inc., 801 S. Ruby Street, Ellensburg, WA 98926, United States
Publication:
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007,
abstract #G43A-02
Publication Date: 05/2007
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
1209 Tectonic deformation (6924), 1242 Seismic cycle
related deformations (6924, 7209, 7223, 7230), 1294
Instruments and techniques, 1295 Integrations of
techniques
Bibliographic Code: 2007AGUSM.G43A..02H
Abstract
The Pacific Northwest Region (PNW) of the United States contains a variety of
geologic regions and tectonic problems. These include the Cascadia Subduction
Zone, Mt. St. Helens and the transition to the Basin and Range province. Since
September of 2003, the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), which is part of the
larger NSF-funded EarthScope project, has been installing a network of continuously
operating GPS, strainmeter and tiltmeter instruments. There are currently 78 GPS,
13 strainmeter/borehole seismometers, and 4 tiltmeters operating in the PNW
region. The data from this network has already been used to study Episodic Tremor
Events (ETS) during September 2005 and January 2007, and renewed activity on Mt.
St. Helens that began on September 23, 2004. The goal is have 134 continuously
operating GPS stations by the end of September 2008. The locations of the GPS
stations were determined by scientific committees. Whenever possible, multiple
instruments are deployed at the same location, and share power and
communications resources. Examples of this are GPS antennas mounted on top of
strainmeter boreholes in the forearc region of western Washington and tiltmeters
collecting data through GPS receivers on Mt. St. Helens. In addition, a number of
stations provide real time kinematic data to professional surveyors within the
region. During the fall of 2006, a 16 GPS and 4 tiltmeter station network was
completed on Mt. St. Helens. Results from analysis of both PBO and USGS GPS
stations on the mountain, show a radially inward and downward motion, with the
maximum vertical offsets high on the mountain and the maximum horizontal offsets
located at distances of 5-10km from the crater. Displacements are small over the
2004-present eruption with a maximum of 3cm of inward movement. GPS stations
installed high on the mountain experience severe weather and heavy rime
accumulations for approximately 6 months of the year. Ice build-up causes
distortion of the GPS antenna phase center, and sun blockages on solar panels at
several sites. Due to the large battery storage capacity, there have been very few
power failures, however the build up of ice on the GPS antennas causes cm-level
pseudo- displacements that mask the ground movements associated with the
eruption.
Title:
Update on Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO)
Activities in the Pacific Northwest
Authors:
Hafner, K.
Affiliation:
AA(UNAVCO, Inc., 801 S. Ruby St, Ellensburg, WA
98926 United States
Publication:
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006,
abstract #G53B-0899
Publication Date: 12/2006
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
1209 Tectonic deformation (6924), 1294 Instruments
and techniques, 1709 Geodesy (1299)
Bibliographic Code: 2006AGUFM.G53B0899H
Abstract
The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), which is part of the larger NSF-funded
EarthScope project, is nearing the end of year 3 of the installation phase of 852
continuously operating GPS stations in the Western United States. The Pacific
Northwest (PNW) region will install 124 continuous GPS stations by the end of
September 2008. The sites are distributed along the fore and back-arc of the
Cascadia Subduction Zone and at Mt. St. Helens. At the end of September 2006, the
PNW region will have met its year three installation goal of 75 GPS stations. The
scientific priority during this past year was to complete the installations on Mt. St.
Helens, and to continue to increase the density of the GPS network along the forearc regions of Washington and Oregon. UNAVCO will install a total of 16 GPS, 4
tiltmeter, and 4 borehole strainmeter stations on Mt. St. Helens. Seven stations were
installed in 2004-2005. Nine additional GPS and the four tiltmeter and strainmeter
stations will be installed in September of 2006. Data analysis from GPS stations
installed to date indicate an inward and downward deflation of the volcano of
several centimeters out to distances of 5 to 10km from the crater. UNAVCO will
install 34 new continuous GPS stations in year 4, concentrated in the back arc
regions of Oregon, the Idaho panhandle, and the Southwest Oregon fore arc region.
Reconnaissance work for GPS site locations will continue in conjunction with
suggestions from the scientific community.
Title:
Completion of the 16 station Plate Boundary
Observatory (PBO) network on Mt. St. Helens, WA
Authors:
Austin, K.; Hafner, K.; Fengler, K.; Doelger, S.
Affiliation:
UNAVCO, 801 S Ruby St, Ellensburg, WA 98926 United States
Publication:
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006,
abstract #G53A-0869
Publication Date: 12/2006
Origin:
AGU
AGU Keywords:
1200 GEODESY AND GRAVITY, 1209 Tectonic deformation
(6924), 1294 Instruments and techniques
Bibliographic Code: 2006AGUFM.G53A0869A
Abstract
The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), part of the larger NSF-funded EarthScope
project, is completing year 3 of the installation phase of 852 continuously operating
GPS stations in the Western United States. Some of these GPS stations are focused
specifically on centers of volcanic activity. Mt. St. Helens is one of these volcanic
areas of interest in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region. The PNW region will
complete the installation of a 16 station GPS network on Mt. St. Helens during
September 2006. This work also includes the co-location and installation of
tiltmeters at four of the existing GPS sites. Network upgrades will be completed to
handle the increase in data flow from the new GPS stations as well as the data from
the tiltmeters and strainmeters. New GPS site installations include six helicopter
accessible sites, and three drive to sites on the south flank of the mountain. Higher
elevation sites will be outfitted with an eight battery, three solar panel power array
to keep the stations operational during winter months. The remaining sites use a
four battery, three solar panel array that has proved sufficient at other GPS locations
over the past 2 winters. All stations will communicate via one of 2 radio networks
set up on the mountain. The northern radio network transmits data for ten stations
through a microwave connection at the Johnston Ridge observatory that also
provides communications for PBO strainmeter, tiltmeter and CVO equipment. The
remaining 10 stations on the south side of the mountain, are relayed through a hub
at Washington State University's Vancouver Campus that is also providing data
services for CVO. Results from analysis of data from both PBO and USGS GPS stations
on the mountain, show a radially inward and downward motion, with the maximum
vertical offsets high on the mountain and the maximum horizontal offsets located at
distances of 5-10km from the crater. Displacements are small over the 2004-present
eruption with a maximum of 3cm of inward movement. Modeling of the data by
Lisowski et al. (AGU 2006) only accounts for a volume loss that is one third of the
amount of material erupted. GPS stations installed high on the mountain were
subjected to severe winter weather and heavy rime ice accumulations over the last
year. This ice build-up caused distortion of the GPS antenna phase center, and
blocked sun access to the solar panels at several sites. Due to the large battery
storage capacity, very few power failures occurred at these stations. However, the
build up of ice on the GPS antennas caused cm-level pseudo-displacements that
mask the ground movements associated with the eruption.