Here are some of the articles that have been recently posted to the PASSCAL website:

Updating Firmware For Q330's

Upgrading Q330 firmware is done with the program Willard.

 

Setup: Download the required firmware from http://q330.com/ Place the firmware into a folder with the name of the firmware (in this example the folder name would be "1.80"). Note: This is important because all Q330 firmware files are named identically. To keep them separated, they must be stored in separate folders.

 

Willard:

Power up the Q330 and connect it to computer via console cable.

Start Willard and select console registration.

 

Select "No" if asked to create a dataless station.

 

 

Quanterra Q330

The Q330 is a 3 or 6 channel high resolution datalogger. It is low power and highly configurable for a wide range of applications and sensors. The Q330 is housed in a sealed aluminum enclosure which makes it highly resistant to the environment. Telemetry is a main focus of the Q330, but it also has a robust on-site data storage system which uses external Balers. This makes it easy to swap out the data storage on-site for when servicing doesn't allow an extended visit. The Q330 can write data to four different receiving systems simultaneously. It also has built-in sensor controls, an automatic mass recentering feature, and calibration functions. The Q330 is programmed with a Windows program called Willard, it can also be controlled by a PalmOS program for when working in the field.

Features:

December 31 2016 Leap Second

Leap Second's effect on EPIC RT-130 and Q330

Summary:

Q330:

Data time starting at 2017:001:00:00:00 is +1 second from truth for 1-2 minutes (seen in controlled tests) until a clock correction, followed by a gap of 2-40 seconds per channel depending on sample rate.

RT-130:

Data time starting at 2017:001:00:00:00 is +1 second from truth for 15min - 9:42hrs (seen in controlled tests) until a clock correction. Some data (~6secs in tests) around the time correction is mistimed, sometimes 11 years in the future, or missing.

Geospace Y-28 (GS11-3D) High Frequency Sensor

  Salient Features: This 3-channel sensor has a frequency of 4.5Hz, is critically damped at .707 and has a sensitivity of 32 V/m/s. Used for (but not limited to) active source (land and off-shore excitations), glacial movements, local earthquake and aftershock studies. Manufacturer Website: http://www.geospace.com/ EPIC Documents: Connector wiring information here Installation & Troubleshooting Documents: Y-28 Orientation and Installation Tips here One-pager field sheet
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Sierra Negra Volcano, Galápagos Islands Deployment

In July and August of 2009, seven scientists deployed several seismic sensors for a two-year multidisciplinary study of one of the world's most active volcanoes, the Sierra Negra Volcano of the Galápagos Islands. The project's official name is “Collaborative Research: An integrated seismic-geodetic study of active magmatic processes at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos Islands.”

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Facility Plan for Polar Seismic and Geodetic Science is Available

The seismic and geodetic Polar communities have worked with EarthScope and UNAVCO to provide a plan for the growth, development, management and governance of Polar support services for the NSF facilities. This plan is now complete and posted on the EarthScope webpage.

Here is the executive summary from the report:

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APOS Report Now Available Online

The report of the Autonomous Polar Observing Systems Workshop (APOS) has been posted online at EarthScope, and can be downloaded (2 MB PDF, 32 pages).  Several EarthScope and EPIC staff participated in this workshop and contributed to the report.

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4.5Hz High Frequency Single Component Sensor

Salient Features These single component geophones are available as vertical units for use with the Texan digitizer and as vertical 6-channel strings for use with the multi-channel digitizer systems.  The multi-channel strings are rarely used. This single channel vertical geophone has a frequency of 4.5Hz, damping of .707 critical and a sensitivity of 100 V/m/s. The primary use of these geophones is for active source experiments. Manufacturer Documents: EPIC’s 4.5Hz, vertical geophones were manufactured by Geospace under part number GS-11D. Installation & Troubleshooting:

 Installation requires a separate bubble level to be placed on top of the geophone for proper leveling.

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EarthScope/EPIC Celebrates Career of Jim Fowler

Jim Fowler started as EarthScope Chief Engineer in 1984, and became the founding manager for the EPIC program.  In 1999, he relocated from Washington D.C. back to his home state of New Mexico, and set up an office in the EPIC.  As a news article from New Mexico Tech noted,

"My wife, Cynthia, and I are originally from New Mexico, so it really wasn't as difficult for us to move here as it might have been for someone who's a hardcore 'Easterner,'" Fowler says.

"Since most of my work involved the Instrument Center, it seemed best for all concerns if my office was actually located at the Instrument Center," Fowler points out. "Basically, instead of living in Washington and commuting to New Mexico, I now live in New Mexico and commute to Washington."

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August/September 2009 New Mexico Earthquake Swarm in the Central Rio Grande Rift

Courtesy Jana Pursley, NMT

Seismicity in central New Mexico, southwestern United States, is dominated by earthquakes occurring above the mid-crustal Socorro Magma Body (SMB). The SMB is a sill-like feature ≥ 3400 km2 in area, with a top surface at 19-km depth spanning the inner Rio Grande rift half-graben system. Inflation of the magma body at rates of several mm/year, perhaps coupled with shallow transport of aqueous fluids, is the prevailing model for the region’s long-standing and anomalous seismicity. Clustered swarms of small magnitude earthquakes have been noted since the 1860s throughout this region, and have been recorded instrumentally since the early 1960’s (Figure 1, blue squares, Sanford et al., 20021).

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