The Australian Seismometers in Schools Network: promoting geoscience to high school students through real-time earthquake data recording

Abstract

The Australian Seismometers in Schools program (AuSIS) has just
completed year one of its initial four-year program. The year has been
filled with excitement as we completed installing pilot instruments in
schools, launched the program nationally and received over 110
"Expressions of Interest" from schools around Australia. The data
quality has exceeded expectations with schools recording local
earthquakes down to magnitude 1, and large distant earthquakes. Some
students participate in the program by looking up earthquake locations
on maps and learning about geography, while other more advanced students
have been investigating the frequency characteristics and sources of
noise at their school. Both students and the schools are particularly
proud that their instrument is contributing to the global scientific
community and are actively incorporating seismology into the school
curriculum. AuSIS is funded by the Education component of AuScope
Australian Geophysical Observing System. By mid-2014 we will build a
network of 40 seismometers in high schools across the nation to provide
real-time monitoring of the Australian continent and raise awareness of
geoscience through observing our dynamic earth in motion. This program
is unique to other seismometers in schools programs as it uses
professional seismometers to provide research quality data to the
seismological community. The AuSIS project's educational aims are to:
• Raise community awareness of earthquakes; • Raise awareness
of seismology and geoscience, as a field of study; • Promote
science as a possible career; • Provide a tool to teachers to
assist in teaching physics and earth science. The data schools collect
is useful to researchers and will complement networks run by government
and state agencies due to the high quality of the instruments and will
be stored at internationally accessible and supported data management
centres, such as IRIS. Data collected during the pilot program have
provided clear recordings of both local and distant earthquakes. The
project also involves an online education portal allowing access by
students to earthquake recordings in their own and other schools. A
growing community of volunteers is forming to support the program within
their local area. Over the duration of the project these volunteers will
enhance the project through provision of technical expertise as well as
promotion within the education sector.

Full text

The Australian Seismometers in Schools Network: Promoting Geoscience
to High School Students Through Real-time Earthquake Data Recording
Malcolm Sambridge
1
, Natalie Balfour
1
, Michelle Salmon
1
and Craig O’Neill
2
Education website
Research
DATA BANK
ANU
Scream!
Antelope
IRIS
Data
Management
Centre
View earthquakes detected
by a school seismometer
40 schools across Australia
Using seismometers, quake catchers
and slinky seismometers
The Australian Seismometers in Schools program (AuSIS) has just completed
stage one of its initial four-year program. The past year has been filled with
excitement as we installed pilot instruments, launched the program nationally
and received over 125 “Expressions of Interest” from schools around Australia.
The data quality exceeded expectations with schools recording local
earthquakes down to magnitude 1, and large distant earthquakes. Some students
participated in the program by looking up earthquake locations on maps and
learning about geography, while other more advanced students have been
investigating the frequency characteristics and sources of noise at their school.
Both students and the schools are particularly proud that their instrument is
contributing to the global scientific community and are actively incorporating
seismology into the school curriculum.
AuSIS is funded by the Education component of AuScope Australian
Geophysical Observing System. By mid-2014 we will build a network of 40
seismometers in high schools across the nation to provide real-time monitoring
of the Australian continent and raise awareness of geoscience through
observing our dynamic earth in motion. This program primarily uses
professional seismometers to provide research quality data to the seismological
community. The AuSIS project’s educational aims are to:
• Raise community awareness of earthquakes;
• Raise awareness of seismology and geoscience, as a field of study;
• Promote science as a possible career;
• Provide a tool to teachers to assist in teaching physics and earth science.
Introduction
1
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University,
2
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie University.
AuSIS is part of the AGOS Project - an
initiative of the Australian Government
being funded through the Education
Investment Fund
The online education portal will provide
teachers and students with access to
recordings from seismometers in
schools.
For teachers, it will supply links to
educational resources for seismology
and suggestions for classroom activities.
The website has an online form for
schools who are interested in
participating in the program and more
information on what is involved in
hosting a seismometer.
Education Portal
Equipment
Guralp CMG-6TD 3-component
broadband Seismometer.
- Records local, regional and
distant earthquakes.
- Transmits data in real-time.
- Research quality data with
accurate timing and calibration.
Primary Instruments
Slinky Seismometer.
- Developed by Boise State
University
- Records local, regional and
large distant earthquakes.
- Transmits data to IRIS.
Secondary Instruments
Quake-catcher
- Quake-catcher network
developed by Stanford
University
- Records local felt earthquakes
- Suitable for classroom
demonstrations
Tertiary Instruments
Primary instruments record high quality data,
available in near real time, which has the
potential for use in monitoring and research.
For example, research into site response
could contribute to the understanding of
seismic hazard in urban areas. The pilot
program has already identified site
amplification at one of the schools.
Research Potential
Local Earthquakes - Canberra 20
th
April 2012
Regional Earthquakes - Moe 19
th
June 2012
08:35:00.000
2012102
08:45:00.000
2012102
08:55:00.000
2012102
09:05:00.000
2012102
09:15:00.000
2012102
09:25:00.000
2012102
09:35:00.000
2012102
09:45:00.000
2012102
AUMHS HHE
-2000000 nm/sec
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHN
-3000000 nm/sec
-2000000
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHZ
-4000000 nm/sec
-3000000
-2000000
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHE
-3000000 nm/sec
-2000000
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHN
-3000000 nm/sec
-2000000
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHZ
-4000000 nm/sec
-3000000
-2000000
-1000000
1000000
2000000
3000000 nm/sec
10:53:30.000
2012171
10:54:00.000
2012171
10:54:30.000
2012171
10:55:00.000
2012171
10:55:30.000
2012171
10:56:00.000
2012171
10:56:30.000
2012171
10:57:00.000
2012171
10:57:30.000
2012171
10:58:00.000
2012171
10:58:30.000
2012171
AUDAR HHE
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUDAR HHN
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUDAR HHZ
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHE
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHN
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHZ
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHE
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHN
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHZ
-1000000 nm/sec
1000000 nm/sec
19:09:00.000
2012110
19:09:10.000
2012110
19:09:20.000
2012110
19:09:30.000
2012110
19:09:40.000
2012110
19:09:50.000
2012110
19:10:00.000
2012110
19:10:10.000
2012110
19:10:20.000
2012110
19:10:30.000
2012110
AUMHS HHE
-400000 nm/sec
-300000
-200000
-100000
100000
200000
300000
400000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHN
-400000 nm/sec
-200000
200000
400000
600000 nm/sec
AUMHS HHZ
-300000 nm/sec
-200000
-100000
100000
200000
300000
400000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHE
-600000 nm/sec
-400000
-200000
200000
400000
600000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHN
-600000 nm/sec
-400000
-200000
200000
400000 nm/sec
AUMTS HHZ
-800000 nm/sec
-600000
-400000
0
200000
400000
600000 nm/sec
Distant Earthquakes - Sumartra 11
th
April 2012
Contact us at ausis@anu.edu.au
For more information visit our
website www.ausis.edu.au
Like us on Facebook
facebook.com/ausisnetwork
AuSIS staff and associates will help with installation and training at schools chosen
to host primary instruments.
We intend to partner schools with a local volunteer who will help with any general
questions or problems. The local contact person may be from industry, research or an
amauter seismologist or enthusiast.
Teacher Support
The high quality daata schools collect are stored and publically accessible through
the IRIS Data Management Center.
EGU2013-3632
Installed
Proposed
Interested