The USArray Flexible Array is a pool of instruments that is available for PI-driven research projects associated with the goals of EarthScope.  This pool of instruments is housed at the EarthScope EPIC located at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, NM. The pool consists of broadband (325), short-period (100), accelerometer (20), and controlled source (1700) stations. Using both natural and controlled sources, these portable instruments permit high-density, short-term observations of key targets within the footprint of the larger Transportable Array. USArray's flexible component offers exciting opportunities for a variety of focused investigations requiring higher-resolution images embedded within the context of the Transportable Array.

This is the time of year when the Polar group at EPIC is busy deploying teams to the Antarctic. Since polar conditions make for difficult site installations, EPIC is pleased to present the following instructive videos of Antarctic station deployments.

Courtesy of Audrey Huerta of Central Washington University, here is a time-lapse video of the difficult installation of a POLENET seismic system on a rock surface at Miller Ridge in the Transantarctic Mountains. This installation took about 4 hours in real-time. You will see shadows encroaching as the sun sets toward the end of the four-minute video.

This policy clarifies the responsibilities and support provided by the EPIC Instrument Center for node experiments utilizing the EarthScope/EPIC node pool. The primary drivers behind this policy are as follows:

To clarify EPIC and the PI’s roles and responsibilities for nodal experiments

The Transportable Array (TA) is a gridwork of broadband seismic instruments that are being installed across the continental United States (see a map of TA stations that have been installed to date).  They are laid out in a rectangular array with approximately 75 kilometer spacing between stations stretching from Canada to Mexico and from the Pacific Ocean eastward.