Arizona Receives Grant to
The Arizona Geological Survey and its partners at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona were awarded nearly $500,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to acquire eight Transportable Array stations.
As part of EarthScope, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), 58 temporary seismic stations were deployed in Arizona in 2006 and 2007. These stations are scheduled for removal beginning in October 2008, after about two years of operation. The seismometers will then be installed in another location as the network rolls eastward across the US.
The “Adopt-A-Station” program, facilitated by USArray in cooperation with NSF, encourages seismic networks, educational institutions, and other entities to purchase one or more of these proven stations before their scheduled removal date. For the cost of the equipment, the new owner can use the station to expand an existing seismic network or as an educational resource. As a condition of the adoption, the new owners agree to continue making the data freely available via the IRIS Data Management Center. More than 25 Transportable Array stations have already been adopted in Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.
The FEMA grant will enable the Arizona consortium to purchase and maintain eight of the highest quality and most strategically located EarthScope stations currently operating in the state. The data recorded by the stations will be analyzed and interpreted by the Earth science teams at the three universities and used to update Arizona’s earthquake risk assessment.
In addition to the three-year FEMA grant, the Arizona Geological Survey and its partners are contributing $172,000 in matching funds. This is the first time the emergency management sector has provided financial support for expanded seismic monitoring through the Adopt-A-Station program.
The Arizona Geological Survey has posted a web page and press release about their initiative, has a blog that includes EarthScope-related news and was interviewed by Channel 12 TV in Phoenix. TV station KPHO Channel 5 also reported on the Arizona program.
Arizona State University and the University of Arizona are members of the IRIS Consortium.
For more information about the Adopt-A-Station program, contact Robert Busby.
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