Data Exploration of Atmospheric Thermal Signals over Regions of Tectonic Faulting and Earthquake Processes

This project extends previous research to statistically explore the relationship between earthquake processes and atmospheric thermal anomalies in order to study the phenomena and their significance. Specifically, analyze and comparison of long-term time series of atmospheric thermal field data was completed over Kamchatka, Russia for years 2000 to 2008. The data exploration methodology is based off an analysis of: (1) Temperature (1000 mbar and 300 mbar), and Relative Humidity (1000 mbar) from National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP); (2) Averaged and Cleared Outgoing Long-wave Radiation (OLR) from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS); (3) Ground meteorological data; (4) seismic activity in the study site as recorded by United States Geological Survey (USGS); and (5) volcanic activity in the study site as archived by Volcano World (NASA). Both "normal" and "anomalous" states of the satellite and ground data segments were defined for 8 years (NCEP) and 6 years (AIRS) of data, for daily averages. Analysis was performed on these parameters by daily averages around the area of major tectonic faulting and earthquake epicenters. Using this data, statistical summaries of the correlation between thermal variations and earthquake events were produced. The plots were considered with respect to mean, standard deviation, and anomalies. Preliminary results show a systematic correlation between the variability of studied atmospheric parameters and earthquake occurrences, along with existence of false alarms cases (positive/negative). The results of this study have potential to contribute to two major areas of interest: (i) statistical time series analysis of the transient atmospheric signatures linked to the major seismicity and (ii) development of regional settings to evaluate the sensitivity requirements of Thermal Infrared (TIR) signal measurement and satellite accuracy for future observational system development associated with tectonic faulting.