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Installation and performance of the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory small-aperture posthole array

June 3, 2020

The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) has been used extensively by seismologists to characterize large earthquakes and image deep earth structure. Although the network’s original design goals have been met, the seismological community has suggested that the incorporation of small-aperture seismic arrays at select sites may improve performance of the network and enable new observations. As a pilot study for this concept, we have created a 500 m aperture, nine-element broadband seismic array around the GSN station ANMO (Albuquerque, New Mexico) at the U.S. Geological Survey Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL). The array was formed by supplementing the secondary borehole seismometer (90 m depth) at ANMO with eight additional 2.6 m posthole sites. Each station’s seismometer was oriented using a fiber optic gyroscope to within 2.0° of north. Data quality, particularly on the vertical components, is excellent with median power levels closely tracking the secondary sensor at ANMO at frequencies lower than 1 Hz. Horizontal component data are more variable at low frequencies (< 0:02 Hz), with the type of installation and local geography appearing to strongly influence the amount of tilt-induced noise. Throughout the article, we pose several fundamental questions related to the variability and precision of seismic wavefield measurements that we seek to address with data from this array. In addition, we calculate the array response and show a few examples of using the array to obtain back azimuths of a local event and a continuous narrowband noise source. The apparent velocity of the event across the array is then used to infer the local P-wave velocity at the ASL. Near real-time data collected from the array along with collocated meteorological, magnetic, and infrasound data are freely available in near-real time from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Data Management Center.

Publication Year 2020
Title Installation and performance of the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory small-aperture posthole array
DOI 10.1785/0220200080
Authors Robert E. Anthony, Adam T. Ringler, David C. Wilson, J. Zebulon Maharrey, Gary Gyure, Aaron Pepiot, Leo D. Sandoval, Samuel Sandoval, Thomas Telesha, Gilbert Vallo, Nicholas Voss
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Seismological Research Letteres
Index ID 70214527
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geologic Hazards Science Center
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