Rotation and Strain Instrument Performance Tests with Active Seismic Sources

<p>Interest in measuring seismic rotation and strain is growing in many areas of geophysical research. This results in a great need for reliable and field deployable instruments measuring ground rotation and strain. To further establish a high quality standard for rotation and strain measurements in seismology, researchers from the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, the University of Potsdam and the ETH Zürich organized a comparative sensor test experiment which took place in November 2019 at the Geophysical Observatory of the LMU in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. More than 40 different sensors such as ring-laser and fiber optic gyroscopes, a Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) cable and interrogator, liquid-based as well as mechanical rotation sensors were involved in addition to 12 classical broadband<br>seismometers and a 80 channel, 4Hz geophone chain. The experiment consisted of two parts: during the first part, the sensors were co-located in a huddle test recording self noise and signals from small, nearby explosions. In a second part, the sensors were distributed into the field in various array configurations recording active seismic signals generated by small amounts of explosive and a vibro-seis truck. This contribution presents details on the setup of the experiment and first results on sensor performance characteristics and signal similarities.</p>

Recording active-seismic ground rotations using induction-coil magnetometers

Most of the current rotational sensing technology is not geared toward the recording of seismic rotations’ amplitudes and frequencies. There are few instruments that are designed for rotational seismology, and the technology for building them is currently being developed. There are no mass industrial producers of seismic rotation sensors as there are for geophones, and only one current sensor model can be deployed on the ocean bottom. We reviewed some current rotational-seismic acquisition technologies, and developed a new method of recording rotations using an existing, robust and field-deployable technology that had seen extensive use in large exploration surveys: induction-coil magnetometers. We conducted an active seismic experiment, in which we found that magnetometers could be used to record seismic rotations. We converted the magnetometer data to rotation-rate data, and validated them by comparing the waveforms and amplitudes with rotation rates recorded by electrokinetic rotation sensors.

AFORS - Autonomous Fiber Optic Rotational Seismograph as a System for Continuous Monitoring the Rotational Seismic Events

We outline the development and application of the Autonomous Fibre-Optic Rotational Seismograph (AFORS), which utilizes the Sagnac effect for a direct measurement of seismic rotation. The main advantage of AFORS is it complete insensitivity to linear motions as well as a direct measurement of rotational components emitted during seismic events. The presented system contains a special autonomous signal processing unit which optimizes its operation for the measurement of rotation motions, whereas applied telemetric system based on the Internet allows for a remote AFORS control. The laboratory investigation of the two such devices indicated they keep accuracy no less than 5.1·10-9to 5.5·10-8rad/s in the frequency bandpass from 0.83 Hz to 106.15 Hz with protect linear changes of sensitivity in above bandpass. The experimental results of AFORS-1 application for continuous monitoring the rotational events in the Książ (Poland) seismological observatory are also presented.