For summer only deployments, either short-period seismometers and geophones or broadband seismometers are typically installed. In the case of short-period sensors or geophones, a “vault” is not required and the instrument is often buried in the snow at a shallow depth and reasonably leveled.  If broadband seismometers are used, a vault needs to be built to hold the instruments. This involves more work as the sensors have to be accurately oriented, leveled and protected from wind noise and thermal changes.  For a detailed description of broadband seismic vaults for polar environments, see the Specialized Polar Equipment section.

Refraction Technology RT-130

The Reftek RT-130 is a 24bit, low power, robust and very portable seismic data recorder.  It is well suited for deployment in harsh climate environment and is easy to program and retrieve data in the field.  It can have 3 or 6 channels and records data on Compact Flash (CF) cards.

Introduction:

This manual covers the following tasks related to installing broadband sensors:

Orient sensor Level sensor Connect sensor to DAS (power) Unlock masses (manually or via electronic command, if masses are the type that lock) Center masses (via command) Check waveforms, e.g. stomp test

Note, always handle sensors with care. If you have never worked with sensors or been shown how to install them, you should get help from experienced people, or barring that, carefully read the manufacturer's manual. Never move an unlocked sensor, unless the sensor has no mass locks. Most of the broadband sensors in the EPIC fleet are either Streckeisen STS2's or Guralp 3T's; both models have 3 masses and all 3 need to remain locked during transport.

 

May 7, 2009

 

Here are links to documents that will help you to think about seismic station siting considerations and seismic vault construction during planning stages, field reconnaisance, and instrument deployment. Also included here are links to guidelines and procedures for station installation and station servicing.