Reduce Power to Enable A Denser Number of Stations and More Reliable Science Observatory Outcomes
Abstract
A prerequisite for remote geophysical observatories is reliable power. The provision of this power significantly drives the size and weight of deployed equipment. Based on recent examples of successful broadband seismic experiments we explore how purpose-built instrumentation and deployment techniques with further reductions in power will enable experiments to be deployed with more stations for the same operating budget, improved data quality, and higher reliability in both portable and permanent instrument arrays. In particular, recent technological advances that can reduce power consumption of broadband and very broadband seismometers by more than 50% without compromising performance are a key factor enabling optimized station power in the future. In combination with low power seismometers, new portable datalogger technology optimized for very low power are key to optimizing power for autonomous stations Furthermore, station complexity is reduced and in some cases power systems can change fundamentally, potentially allowing primary batteries to replace solar power in some use cases, with far-reaching implications for researchers and operators.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.S41G0612P
- Keywords:
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- 0994 Instruments and techniques;
- EXPLORATION GEOPHYSICS;
- 5494 Instruments and techniques;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 7294 Seismic instruments and networks;
- SEISMOLOGY;
- 7299 General or miscellaneous;
- SEISMOLOGY