Abstract
Geohazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and
landslides, cause billions of dollars in U.S. economic losses, loss of
life, injuries, and significant disruption to lives and livelihoods on
an annual basis. The ability of the geoscience community to respond
rapidly after a hazardous event or at the signs of precursors to these
events, provides critical data to understand the physical processes
responsible for these destructive events. The Seismological Facility for
the Advancement of Geoscience (SAGE) is an NSF-funded facility operated
by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). As a
part of the SAGE award, IRIS will implement an expanded capability to
facilitate rapidly responding to geohazards with geophysical
instrumentation. After several years of gathering community input, IRIS
is ready to begin procurement of a new suite of instrumentation for
rapidly responding to geohazard events. During the past year, staff at
the IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center have conducted instrument testing and
evaluation to inform the preferred mix of instrumentation for the new
rapid response equipment pool—which is expected to include broadband
and nodal seismometers, digitizers, and infrasound sensors. This effort
has been guided by recommendations from a recent Rapid Response
Community Whitepaper, with ongoing oversight from the PASSCAL Standing
Committee. A copy of the whitepaper, as well as recordings and
presentations from hosted gatherings have been posted to IRIS’ Rapid
Response to Geohazards webpage (www.iris.edu/rapid). With testing and
evaluation complete, IRIS is looking ahead to procuring instruments and
associated equipment over the next year, followed by acceptance testing
and integration at the IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center. Concurrently,
IRIS is working with community governance to formalize new policies and
procedures that will outline how this new community resource can most
effectively and efficiently be used for geohazard-related observations.
Beginning in 2023, PIs will be able to schedule and use this equipment
from the IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center. We look forward to presenting
further details on the above-mentioned activities during the AGU Fall
Meeting.