The Components of a Seismic Station

Each of our stations require a seismometer which responds to vibrations in the Earth, a data-logger which turns the motion into a digital record and stores it onto a disk, a large battery to provide power to the equipment, and a solar panel to recharge the battery. If any of those components fail, then the station cannot continue to record data. So prior to traveling to the station sites, we test the equipment to make sure that it is working properly. In the field, the true challenge is doing everything quickly enough to finish before dark. Typically a temporary station like the ones we are building takes about 3 hours to complete – but frequently hang-ups occur (for instance - finicky equipment, rocky ground, broken tools, and bad weather are common problems we encounter).