Upgrade of the Global Seismographic Network Field Systems Rolls Along

GSN Station EFI on East Falkland Island in the South Atlantic off the east coast of Argentina.
The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) station at Mount Kent, on East Falkland Island, has recently been upgraded to the next generation system (NGS) by the IRIS-funded University of California, San Diego Project IDA group as a part of a complete network upgrade of the GSN acquisition system.

As the acquisition systems of the GSN age, a long-term project to sustain the GSN by upgrading the field electronics to a new generation was initiated. The new design, developed jointly by the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory and Project IDA, incorporates a sensor interface box and power distribution module with the Quanterra Q330HR data acquisition system. The NGS standardizes the stations of the Global Seismographic Network between the network operators, allowing more uniform installation, operation and maintenance techniques for the network. With funds from the US Geological Survey made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and augmentation funding to IRIS from the National Science Foundation, the GSN will procure all the necessary components to upgrade the remaining stations to NGS and will accelerate the installation of these systems over the next two years.

The completion of the East Falkland Island (EFI) upgrade brings the total number of stations upgraded in the past year to 19 and to 27 overall. In addition, 11 GSN affiliate stations have been upgraded to the NGS using funds from other sources.

For photos of the NGS upgrade project, please visit the IRIS Image Gallery album dedicated to this effort at http://dev.iris.edu/hq/gallery/album/5996.

IDA technician Chris Sites in front of the recently refurbished instrument building at East Falkland Island and next to the solar array that powers the station. The upgraded GSN recording equipment and a new Episensor accelerometer were installed on June 30, 2009.