External links
- FDSN – Official website
- SEED, Chapter 1 – the Standard for the Exchange of Earthquake Data manual
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The International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks, or FDSN, is a global organization consisting of groups that install and maintain digital, broadband seismic recorders either nationally or globally. Any organizations operating more than one broadband station is eligible for membership. Members agree to coordinate station siting and provide free and open data. This cooperation helps scientists all over the world to further the advancement of earth science and particularly the study of global seismic activity. FDSN is a participant in the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, or GEOSS.
The FDSN goals related to station siting and instrumentation are to provide stations with good geographic distribution, recording data with 24 bits of resolution in continuous time series with at least a 20 sample per second sampling rate. The FDSN was also instrumental in development of a universal standard for distribution of broadband waveform data and related parametric information (QuakeML). The Standard for Exchange of Earthquake Data (SEED) format is the result of that effort.
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Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the generation and propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or other planetary bodies. It also includes studies of earthquake environmental effects such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, glacial, fluvial, oceanic microseism, atmospheric, and artificial processes such as explosions and human activities. A related field that uses geology to infer information regarding past earthquakes is paleoseismology. A recording of Earth motion as a function of time, created by a seismograph is called a seismogram. A seismologist is a scientist works in basic or applied seismology.
A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The output of such a device—formerly recorded on paper or film, now recorded and processed digitally—is a seismogram. Such data is used to locate and characterize earthquakes, and to study the internal structure of Earth.
A tsunami warning system (TWS) is used to detect tsunamis in advance and issue the warnings to prevent loss of life and damage to property. It is made up of two equally important components: a network of sensors to detect tsunamis and a communications infrastructure to issue timely alarms to permit evacuation of the coastal areas. There are two distinct types of tsunami warning systems: international and regional. When operating, seismic alerts are used to instigate the watches and warnings; then, data from observed sea level height are used to verify the existence of a tsunami. Other systems have been proposed to augment the warning procedures; for example, it has been suggested that the duration and frequency content of t-wave energy is indicative of an earthquake's tsunami potential.
The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) was built by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan running from 2005 to 2015. GEOSS seeks to connect the producers of environmental data and decision-support tools with the end users of these products, with the aim of enhancing the relevance of Earth observations to global issues. GEOSS aims to produce a global public infrastructure that generates comprehensive, near-real-time environmental data, information and analyses for a wide range of users. The Secretariat Director of Geoss is Barbara Ryan.
The EarthScope project (2003-2018) was an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Earth science program using geological and geophysical techniques to explore the structure and evolution of the North American continent and to understand the processes controlling earthquakes and volcanoes. The project had three components: USArray, the Plate Boundary Observatory, and the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth. Organizations associated with the project included UNAVCO, the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), Stanford University, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Several international organizations also contributed to the initiative. EarthScope data are publicly accessible.
The Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Facility composed of a network of science-driven ocean observing platforms and sensors in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This networked infrastructure measures physical, chemical, geological, and biological variables from the seafloor to the sea surface and overlying atmosphere, providing an integrated data collection system on coastal, regional and global scales. OOI's goal is to deliver data and data products for a 25-year-plus time period, enabling a better understanding of ocean environments and critical ocean issues.
The International Seismological Centre (ISC) is a non-governmental, nonprofit organisation charged with the final collection, definitive analysis and publication of global seismicity. The ISC was formed in 1964 as an international organisation independent of national governments that would carry on the work of the International Seismological Summary in collecting and analyzing seismic data from around the world, and particularly to handle increased flow of data from the World-Wide Standard Seismograph Network (WWSSN), also established that year. The ISC considers its prime task to be the collection and re-analysis of all available earthquake seismic date in order to produce definitive data on earthquakes. The ISC's catalog is considered "the most complete and authoritative final depository of global earthquake parameter data."
The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the deformation in the source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a fault-related event, it refers to the orientation of the fault plane that slipped, and the slip vector and is also known as a fault-plane solution. Focal mechanisms are derived from a solution of the moment tensor for the earthquake, which itself is estimated by an analysis of observed seismic waveforms. The focal mechanism can be derived from observing the pattern of "first motions", whether the first arriving P waves break up or down. This method was used before waveforms were recorded and analysed digitally, and this method is still used for earthquakes too small for easy moment tensor solution. Focal mechanisms are now mainly derived using semi-automatic analysis of the recorded waveforms.
The Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich is the federal agency responsible for monitoring earthquakes in Switzerland and its neighboring countries and for assessing Switzerland's seismic hazard. When an earthquake happens, the SED informs the public, authorities, and the media about the earthquake's location, magnitude, and possible consequences. The activities of the SED are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake precaution.
UNAVCO was a non-profit university-governed consortium that facilitated geology research and education using geodesy.
A National Data Repository (NDR) is a data bank that seeks to preserve and promote a country's natural resources data, particularly data related to the petroleum exploration and production (E&P) sector.
Weston Observatory is a geophysical research laboratory of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College. The Observatory is located in the town of Weston, Massachusetts, about 13 miles (21 km) west of downtown Boston.
The 20 indian Antarctic Expedition was flagged off on-board M.V. Magdalena Oldenorff from Cape Town on 30 December 2000. The team comprising a total of 51 members was led by Shri Mervin J. D’Souza from Geological Survey of India. The 20th IAE team consisted of 51 members including 34 scientists from various scientific Organizations/Universities/Departments and 17 logistic members. After successful completion of all logistics and scientific tasks the 20th IAE team returned to India in March 2002.
The Kyrgyz Republic Seismic Network (KRNET) is a regional continuous telemetric network of very broadband seismic data in Kyrgyzstan. It was established in 2008 and replaced the Kyrgyz Seismic Network (KNET) from 1991.
The Quake Markup Language (QuakeML) is a flexible, extensible and modular XML representation of seismological data which is intended to cover a broad range of fields of application in modern seismology.
The National Seismological Center of the University of Chile is part of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile. The center collects information about seismic activity in Chile and delivers it to the National Office of Emergency at the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI) and the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). The current director of the CSN is Sergio Barrientos Parra. The National Seismological Center is housed by the Department of Geophysics (DGF).
The World-Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN) – originally the World-Wide Network of Seismograph Stations (WWNSS) – was a global network of about 120 seismograph stations built in the 1960s that generated an unprecedented collection of high quality seismic data. This data enabled seismology to become a quantitative science, elucidated the focal mechanisms of earthquakes and the structure of the Earth's crust, and contributed to the development of plate tectonic theory. The WWSSN is credited with spurring a renaissance in seismological research.
MERMAID is a marine scientific instrument platform, short for Mobile Earthquake Recorder for Marine Areas by Independent Divers.
The U.S. National Science Foundation's Seismological Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience(NSF SAGE) is a distributed, multi-user national facility that provides support for state of-the-art seismic research. It is operated by EarthScope Consortium. Its previous operator was the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), until its merger with UNAVCO to become EarthScope Consortium. NSF SAGE is one of the two premier geophysical facilities in support of geoscience and geoscience education of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The other premiere geophysical facility is NSF GAGE, the Geodetic Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience.
The Polar Earth Observing Network (POLENET) is a global network involving researchers from 24 nations for the geophysical observation of the polar regions of our planet.