Ocean Networks Canada’s EEW System: An Efficient System Architecture to Make Use of Both GNSS and Accelerometer Data

Date: 4/25/2019

Time: 01:45 PM

Room: Puget Sound

Over the past 15 years, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) has built a large research infrastructure consisting of a complex set of sensor networks below and above the water line. The networks support hundreds of instruments and instrument types that are producing data 24/7 in real-time or near real-time. The integrated networks span different types of environments from coastal to deep ocean basin, from polar to land-based settings and support large research projects in disciplines as diverse as marine biology, geophysics and seismology, oceanography, climate change and even particle physics.

The proximity of ONC’s largest observing installations close to, or on, the Cascadia subduction zone is no accident. A focus on the science related to this active zone was always a key objective. More recently, the potential for the development of earthquake and tsunami early warning was considered and after an early prototype phase, funding was sought and received to build a fully capable Earthquake Early Warning System (EEWS) for the Province of British Columbia.

With the help of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) colleagues, a mixed system was designed that tightly integrates accelerometer data with GNSS sensor data to be able to successfully cover a wide range of event magnitudes. In order to expand the geographical coverage of event detection, a data exchange mechanism with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is in place.

The system is now entering a thorough commissioning phase prior to be taken on-line in April 2020.

This contribution review the design aspects and the architecture of the system, and highlight some of the early results.

Presenting Author: Benoît Pirenne

Authors