Rotation, Strain, and Translation Sensors Performance Tests with Active Seismic Sources

Interest in measuring displacement gradients, such as rotation and strain, is growing in many areas of geophysical research. This results in an urgent demand for reliable and field-deployable instruments measuring these quantities. In order to further establish a high-quality standard for rotation and strain measurements in seismology, we organized a comparative sensor test experiment that took place in November 2019 at the Geophysical Observatory of the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. More than 24 different sensors, including three-component and single-component broadband rotational seismometers, six-component strong-motion sensors and Rotaphone systems, as well as the large ring laser gyroscopes ROMY and a Distributed Acoustic Sensing system, were involved in addition to 14 classical broadband seismometers and a 160 channel, 4.5 Hz geophone chain. The experiment consisted of two parts: during the first part, the sensors were co-located in a huddle test recording self-noise and signals from small, nearby explosions. In a second part, the sensors were distributed into the field in various array configurations recording seismic signals that were generated by small amounts of explosive and a Vibroseis truck. This paper presents details on the experimental setup and a first sensor performance comparison focusing on sensor self-noise, signal-to-noise ratios, and waveform similarities for the rotation rate sensors. Most of the sensors show a high level of coherency and waveform similarity within a narrow frequency range between 10 Hz and 20 Hz for recordings from a nearby explosion signal. Sensor as well as experiment design are critically accessed revealing the great need for reliable reference sensors.

@article{id2718,
  author = {Bernauer, Felix and Behnen, Kathrin and Wassermann, Joachim and Egdorf, Sven and Igel, Heiner and Donner, Stefanie and Stammler, Klaus and Hoffmann, Mathias and Edme, Pascal and Sollberger, David and Schmelzbach, C\'edric and Robertsson, Johan and Paitz, Patrick and Igel, Jonas and Smolinski, Krystyna and Fichtner, Andreas and Rossi, Yara and Izgi, Gizem and Vollmer, Daniel and Eibl, Eva P. S. and Buske, Stefan and Veress, Christian and Guattari, Frederic and Laudat, Theo and Mattio, Laurent and S\`ebe, Olivie and Olivier, Serge and Lallemand, Charlie and Brunner, Basil and Kurzych, Anna T. and Dudek, Micha{\l} and Jaroszewicz, Leszek R. and Kowalski, Jerzy K. and Bo\'nkowski, Piotr A. and Bobra, Piotr and Zembaty, Zbigniew and Vack\'a\v{r}, Ji\v{r}{\'\i} and M\'alek, Ji\v{r}{\'\i} and Brokesova, Johana},
  doi = {10.3390/s21010264},
  journal = {Sensors},
  language = {en},
  number = {1},
  title = {Rotation, Strain, and Translation Sensors Performance Tests with Active Seismic Sources},
  url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/1/264},
  volume = {21},
  year = {2021},
}

%O Journal Article
%A Bernauer, Felix
%A Behnen, Kathrin
%A Wassermann, Joachim
%A Egdorf, Sven
%A Igel, Heiner
%A Donner, Stefanie
%A Stammler, Klaus
%A Hoffmann, Mathias
%A Edme, Pascal
%A Sollberger, David
%A Schmelzbach, Cédric
%A Robertsson, Johan
%A Paitz, Patrick
%A Igel, Jonas
%A Smolinski, Krystyna
%A Fichtner, Andreas
%A Rossi, Yara
%A Izgi, Gizem
%A Vollmer, Daniel
%A Eibl, Eva P. S.
%A Buske, Stefan
%A Veress, Christian
%A Guattari, Frederic
%A Laudat, Theo
%A Mattio, Laurent
%A Sèbe, Olivie
%A Olivier, Serge
%A Lallemand, Charlie
%A Brunner, Basil
%A Kurzych, Anna T.
%A Dudek, Michał
%A Jaroszewicz, Leszek R.
%A Kowalski, Jerzy K.
%A Bońkowski, Piotr A.
%A Bobra, Piotr
%A Zembaty, Zbigniew
%A Vackář, Jiří
%A Málek, Jiří
%A Brokesova, Johana
%R 10.3390/s21010264
%J Sensors
%G en
%N 1
%T Rotation, Strain, and Translation Sensors Performance Tests with Active Seismic Sources
%U https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21/1/264
%V 21
%D 2021