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Recovery and Digitalization of Semipalatinsk Test Site Nuclear Explosions From Legacy Analog Seismograms

Description: 

The Institute of Seismology of Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, the National Scientific Center for Seismological Observations and Research of the Emergency Situations Ministry of Kazakhstan, and Michigan State University are recovering, scanning, and digitalizing historic analog seismograms of Soviet Nuclear Explosions that took place at the Semipalatinsk Test Site between the 1960s and 1980s. We are specifically focusing on explosions that occurred in Degelen Mountain. These explosions were well recorded by the regional seismic networks, where thousands of seismograms are still retained. We are working to index these irreplaceable legacy analog seismograms and preserve them against loss for future generations. In the process, we are also generating high resolution scans of the seismograms and digitalizing them for analysis. Along with the seismograms, we are recovering the original station calibrations, responses, and metadata for each station and developed code to generate Dataless SEED files for use with the digitized data. Most seismograms are from short period instruments, and when combined with the correct station calibration information, the digitalization process accurately recovers ground motion signals to at least 5 Hz. The resulting digital waveforms are of sufficiently high quality that they are usable for quantitative research (see Martinetti and Mackey, this conference).

Session: Advancements in Forensic Seismology and Explosion Monitoring [Poster]

Type: Poster

Date: 4/17/2025

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Kevin

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Poster Number: 89

Authors