Self-sufficient seismic boxes for monitoring glacier seismology

Authors

  • Ana Nap University of Zürich
  • Fabian Walter Swiss Federal Institute WSL
  • Martin Lüthi University of Zürich
  • Adrien Wehrlé University of Zürich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v2i1.245

Keywords:

Glaciology, cryoseismology, seismology, instumentation

Abstract

Glacier seismology is a valuable tool for investigating ice flow dynamics, but sufficient data acquisition in remote and exposed glaciated terrain remains challenging. For data acquisition on a highly crevassed and remote outlet glacier in Greenland we developed self-sufficient and easily deployable seismic stations, "SG-boxes". The SG-boxes contain their own power supply via solar panel, a three-component omni-directional geophone and a GNSS receiver. The SG-boxes can be deployed and retrieved from a hovering helicopter, allowing for deployment in difficult terrain. To assess their performance we conducted a field test comparing the SG-boxes to established on-ice geophone installations at Gornergletscher in Switzerland. Moreover, data from a first SG-box deployment in Greenland were analyzed. The SG-boxes exhibit consistently higher noise levels relative to colocated conventional geophones and a correlation between noise levels, wind and air temperature is found. Despite their noise susceptibility, the SG-boxes detected a total of 13,114 Gornergletscher icequakes over 10 days, which is 30% of the total number of icequakes detected by conventional geophone stations. Hence, even in sub-optimal weather conditions and without additional noise reduction measures, the SG-boxes can provide unique and valuable data from challenging glaciated terrain where no conventional seismic installations are possible.

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Published

2023-01-19

How to Cite

Nap, A., Walter, F., Lüthi, M., & Wehrlé, A. (2023). Self-sufficient seismic boxes for monitoring glacier seismology. Seismica, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v2i1.245

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Reports (excl. Fast Reports)

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Copyright (c) 2023 Ana Nap, Fabian Walter, Martin Lüthi, Adrien Wehrlé

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