David Wilson
Science and Products
A review of timing accuracy across the Global Seismographic Network
The accuracy of timing across a seismic network is important for locating earthquakes as well as studies that use phase‐arrival information (e.g., tomography). The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) was designed with the goal of having reported timing be better than 10 ms. In this work, we provide a brief overview of how timing is kept across...
Ringler, Adam T.; Anthony, Robert E.; Wilson, David C.; Auerbach, D.; Bargabus, S.; Davis, P.W.; Gunnels, M.; Hafner, K.; Holland, James; Kearns, A.; Klimczak, E. Rayleigh wave amplitude uncertainty across the Global Seismographic Network and potential implications for global tomography
The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a multiuse, globally distributed seismic network used by seismologists, to both characterize earthquakes and study the Earth’s interior. Most stations in the network have two collocated broadband seismometers, which enable network operators to identify potential metadata and sensor issues. In this study,...
Ringler, Adam T.; Anthony, Robert E.; Dalton, C. A.; Wilson, David C. Towards understanding relationships between atmospheric pressure variations and long-period horizontal seismic data: A case study
Variations in atmospheric pressure have long been known to introduce noise in long-period (>10 s) seismic records. This noise can overwhelm signals of interest such as normal modes and surface waves. Generally, this noise is most pronounced on the horizontal components where it arises due to tilting of the seismometer in response to...
Alejandro, Alexis Casondra Bianca; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Anthony, Robert E.; Moore, S.V. Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska
Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors...
Ringler, Adam T.; Anthony, Robert E.; Wilson, David C.; Claycomb, Abram E.; Spritzer, John Installation and performance of the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory small-aperture posthole array
The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) has been used extensively by seismologists to characterize large earthquakes and image deep earth structure. While some of the networks 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...
Anthony, Robert E.; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Maharrey, J. Zebulon; Gyure, Gary; Pepiot, Aaron; Sandoval, Leo D.; Sandoval, Samuel; Telesha, Thomas; Vallo, Gilbert; Voss, Nicholas How processing methodologies can distort and bias power spectral density estimates of seismic background noise
Power spectral density (PSD) estimates are widely used in seismological studies to characterize background noise conditions, assess instrument performance, and study quasi‐stationary signals that are difficult to observe in the time domain. However, these studies often utilize different processing techniques, each of which can inherently bias the...
Anthony, Robert E.; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Bahavar, Manochehr; Koper, Keith D. Calibration analysis and noise estimates of WWSSN Station ALQ (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
World‐Wide Standardized Seismograph Network (WWSSN) records contain daily calibration pulses that can be used to retrieve the magnification as well as the response of the instrument for a given day record. We analyze a select number of long‐period vertical (LPZ) records from WWSSN station ALQ (Albuquerque, New Mexico). Although we find that the...
Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Wolin, Emily; Storm, Tyler; Sandoval, L. D. Using component ratios to detect metadata and instrument problems of seismic stations: Examples from 18 years of GEOSCOPE data
Replacement or deterioration of seismic instruments and the evolution of the installation conditions and sites can alter the seismic signal in very subtle ways, so it is notoriously difficult to monitor the signal quality of permanent seismic stations. We present a simple tool, energy ratios between each pair of the three recorded components,...
Pedersen, Helle A.; Leroy, Nicolas; Zigone, Dimitri; Vallée, Martin; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C. Improvements in seismic resolution and current limitations in the Global Seismographic Network
Station noise levels play a fundamental limitation in our ability to detect seismic signals. These noise levels are frequency-dependent and arise from a number of physically different drivers. At periods greater than 100 s, station noise levels are often limited by the self-noise of the instrument as well as the sensitivity of the instrument to...
Ringler, Adam T.; Steim, J.; Wilson, David C.; Widmer-Schnidrig, R.; Anthony, Robert E. Rapid station and network quality analysis for temporary deployments
Seismic station data quality is commonly defined by metrics such as data completeness or background seismic noise levels in specific frequency bands. However, for temporary networks such as aftershock deployments or induced seismicity monitoring, the most critical metric is often how well the station performs when recording events of interest. A...
Wilson, David C.; Ringler, Adam T.; Storm, Tyler; Anthony, Robert E. Characteristics and spatial variability of wind noise on near-surface broadband seismometers
By coupling with the ground, wind causes ground motion that appears on seismic records as noise across a wide bandwidth. This wind-generated noise can drown out important features such as small earthquakes and prevent observation of normal modes from large earthquakes. Because the wind field is heterogeneous at local scales due to structures,...
Dybing, S. N.; Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Anthony, Robert E. Rayleigh wave ellipticity measurement uncertainty across the IRIS/USGS and New China Digital Seismograph Networks
Long-period Rayleigh wave horizontal to vertical amplitude (H/V) ratios at a station provide information about local earth structure that is complementary to phase velocity. However, a number of studies have observed that significant scatter appears in these measurements making it difficult to use H/V ratio measurements to resolve earth structure...
Ringler, Adam T.; Wilson, David C.; Zürn, Walter; Anthony, Robert E.