Transportable Array

Components > Transportable Array

Overview | Transportable Array | Flexible Array
Reference Network | Magnetotelluric Facility

	The 400^th Transportable Array station became operational on August 2, 2007. View photos.

To provide increased resolution of lithospheric and deep Earth structure, the Transportable Array of 400 broadband seismometers will gradually cross the United States and Alaska, occupying sites for about two years on a 70-km grid. All 400 systems are being acquired with funds provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF). By October 2007, the first footprint will have been established from north to south along the westernmost quarter of the United States. The Transportable Array will be moved periodically over the next six years in a leapfrog fashion, completing an additional three full deployments to cover the conterminous United States with over 1600 observation points before moving to Alaska.

Each of the Transportable Array stations consists of a three-component broadband seismometer with associated signal processing, power, and communications equipment. In the early phase of the experiment, significant effort was devoted to the design of the temporary vaults to house the instruments, which resulted in a configuration that provides both high-quality data and a data return of greater than 90%. Data from each station are continuously transmitted to the Array Network Facility at the University of California, San Diego, where initial operational and quality checks are performed, and then sent to the IRIS Data Management Center, where all data and associated metadata are archived.

Google Earth Map of
Operating Stations
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List of Operating Stations

HIGHLIGHTS

Inside Science
Example of data collected by the Transportable Array.

EarthScope is a partnership extending throughout the Earth science community, including more than 100 universities, the National Science Foundation, US Geological Survey, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy, regional seismic networks and state geological surveys.