The final year of GPS Installations in the Alaska Region of the Plate Boundary Observatory
Abstract
The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) is the geodetic component of the National Science Foundation funded Earthscope Project. The final PBO GPS network will comprise 1100 continuously operating GPS stations installed throughout the Western US and Alaska. The Alaska region is an important area of study because of the major crustal deformation and high volcanic activity associated with the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate. The PBO network will provide data to help better understand these earth processes. In the fifth and final year of the PBO installation phase, we built 31 GPS Stations and installed 8 tilt meters in Alaska. These installs completed the PBO network in Alaska which comprises 135 GPS stations and 12 tilt meters. We also completed maintenance visits to GPS stations installed during earlier years of the five year project. In the 2008 field season we faced some of our most difficult logistical challenges with installations in remote areas, islands and volcanoes. Highlights include boat-based helicopter supported installs in the Shumagin Islands on Chernabura, Nagai and Popof; and 13 GPS stations and 8 tiltmeters installed on Unimak Island to monitor Westdahl and Shishaldin volcanoes. The Unimak installations were completed in a four week period and were carried out in cooperation with scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory. We also installed the remaining stations monitoring the Denali fault and integrated the Denali earthquake response stations built by University of Alaska Fairbanks into the PBO network. Now that the installations are completed, the PBO network will be operated and maintained by UNAVCO engineers for the next 10 years. Data from all of the PBO stations are available from the UNAVCO archive.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFM.G53B0644C
- Keywords:
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- 1200 GEODESY AND GRAVITY;
- 1209 Tectonic deformation (6924)