Instrumental networks for monitoring short-period tectonic motions in seismic zones

Abstract

For some years the monitoring of crustal movements in seismic zones has consisted mainly of periodic resurvey measurements using triangulation, trilateration, leveling, and gravity measurements. The frequency of remeasurements has been limited by the costs. Some fixed instruments have contributed also, such as creepmeters, tidegages, and devices for measuring tilts in lake levels. A number of inexpensive, shallow-borehole tiltmeters were installed recently in the U.S.A., but so far the noise level due to local ground motions appears to be fairly high for many instruments. Volumetric strainmeters are being used in several countries. 700 meter long laser strainmeters and a superconducting gravimeter have been in operation for several years at one site in California. Other simpler strainmeters and tiltmeters exist at a number of locations in seismic zones. Recently there has been increased interest both in trying to obtain frequent observations with fixed instruments and in reducing the noise level. Long-baseline liquid tiltmeters, deep-borehole tiltmeters, superconducting gravimeters, multi-wavelength laser distance-measuring devices, and laser strainmeters are capable of improved accuracy. However, they are more expensive than most previously used instruments. An additional future possibility is to use signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to monitor networks of points. The accuracy would be limited almost completely by uncertainty in the water-vapor corrections along the various satellite-to-ground propagation paths. It seems possible that 1 cm accuracy for detecting baseline changes with very low false alarm rates can be achieved by using water-vapor radiometers at many of the sites, provided that sufficient accuracy can be achieved with the radiometers. Highly mobile instruments are being constructed in the U.S.A. which will use the spread-spectrum GPS signals as noise sources for long baseline radio interferometry. Initial tests using the reconstructed carrier Doppler method instead have been carried out at another laboratory. Tests utilizing the reconstructed carrier phase method are planned by two groups. The cost of using GPS receivers in the survey mode seems likely to be low, but how expensive receivers plus radiometers for use in fixed locations will be, is not yet known.