On the use of an externally deployed geophone package on an Ocean Bottom Seismometer

We describe a recent modification to the MIT Ocean Bottom Seismometer by which the geophones are housed in a separate package that is deployed on the sea floor about 1 m distance from the main unit several hours after the OBS reaches the ocean bottom. Records from deep-sea experiments and shallow-water tests show two improvements over records from geophones housed in the main instrument package. Signals recorded by the external geophones have a much better signal-to-noise ratio because tape recorder noise and instrument vibrations generated by water currents are effectively eliminated. As a result, the overall frequency response of the sensors to ground motion has a demonstrably smoother spectral shape. The second improvement is that the cross coupling of horizontal instrument motion to vertical ground motion is apparently greatly reduced because of the simpler design for the sensor package.     

Coupling of ocean bottom seismometers to soft bottom

Unlike response of seismometers resting on hard rock where the seismometer case moves with the rock to high frequencies, the response of ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) can be strongly affected by the low mechanical strength of ocean sediments. The motion as measured by the seismometer will not follow the expected relationships between pressure and particle motion for different wave types. Cross coupling between horizontal and vertical motions can occur, especially when there is differential motion between water and sediment. Resonant amplification and attenuation of higher frequencies also occur. Secondary seismic arrivals are especially subject to distortion. Overall response is strongly dependent upon the mass and configuration of the OBS and the rigidity and density of the bottom material. Tests at Lopez Island, Puget Sound using both directly applied mechanical transients and seismic signals with various instrument configurations demonstrate the above effects and provide some guidance for improved designs.Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution No. 1172.     

An overview and general results of the Lopez island OBS experiment

The purpose of the experiment was to determine the effects of coupling and bottom currents on ocean bottom seismometers. Twelve operational OBSs, three specially designed three-component systems, and a hydrophone were compared with each other. Unlike seismometers placed on hard rock at land stations, ocean bottom seismometers can be affected by soft sediments (which act as lossy mechanical springs) and by buoyancy. Coupling through soft sediments can modify the response to ground motion much as a low pass filter does, and high buoyancy tends to counteract this effect. These effects are observed in the Lopez data, which consist of signals from mechanical transient tests, cap shots, airgun pulses, and general background noise. The modification of response is pronounced for some instruments and barely noticeable in others. Instruments that stand high in the water relative to their base width tend to be susceptible to rocking motion that shows up as a mechanical cross coupling between horizontal and vertical motion. Correlation of Lopez results with coupling theory suggests that it is possible to design ocean bottom seismometers that will couple well to any sediment. Current levels at the Lopez site (<5 cm s^-1) were too small to produce noticeable effect on any of the instruments; however, the same design criteria that will minimize coupling problems will also lessen problems caused by ocean currents.Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution No. 1171.     

Optimum design of Ocean bottom seismometers

Ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) have been widely used during the past decade to collect seismic data for determination of the structure of the oceanic lithosphere, stress patterns in regions of earthquake activity, and geoacoustic parameters of the ocean floor. Data quality from these experiments has often been disappointing because of poor signal quality and high noise levels. Many of these problems result from motion of the OBS package that is decoupled from motion of the ocean floor. These coupling problems are more serious in the ocean than on land because of the low shear strengths of most ocean sediments. In this paper we continue to develop the theory of coupling of OBSs to soft sediments and arrive at results suggesting that OBS packages should be designed with: (1) the minimum mass possible, (2) radius of area in contact with the sediment proportional to the cube root of the mass, and the maximum radius less than 1/4 of the shear wavelength, (3) density of the OBS approximately that of the sediment, (4) a low profile and a small vertical cross section with water, and (5) low density gradients, and maximum symmetry about the vertical axis. Agreement of the theory with test data is good; most deviations are reasonable, given limitations of the theory and experiments. The theory also suggests that the coupling frequency, the frequency above which the OBS does not follow the motion of the sediment, is directly proportional to the sediment shear velocity.     

Real-time geophysical measurements on the deep seafloor usingsubmarine cable in the southern Kurile subduction zone

A permanent real-time geophysical observatory using a submarine cable was developed and deployed to monitor seismicity, tsunamis, and other geophysical phenomena in the southern Kurile subduction zone. The geophysical observatory comprises six bottom sensor units, two branching units, a main electro-optical cable with a length of 240 km and two land stations. The bottom sensor units are: 1) three ocean bottom broadband seismometers with hydrophone; 2) two pressure gauges (PGs); 3) a cable end station with environmental measurement sensors. Real-time data from all the undersea sensors are transmitted through the main electro-optical cable to the land station. The geophysical observatory was installed on the continental slope of the southern Kurile trench, southeast Hokkaido, Japan in July 1999. Examples of observed data are presented. Sensor noises and resolution are mentioned for the ocean bottom broadband seismometers and the PGs, respectively. An adaptable observation system including very broadband seismometers is scheduled to be connected to the branching unit in late 2001. The real-time geophysical observatory is expected to greatly advance the understanding of geophysical phenomena in the southern Kurile subduction zone     

Instrument calibration of ocean bottom seismographs

To increase the accuracy of measuring sea floor motion with ocean bottom seismometers, we calibrate the seismometer system on the ocean floor. Data from the sea floor calibration, augmented with electronic and land calibration data, enables us to find the OBS transfer function to an accuracy of 0.5% in the frequency range of 0.1 to 32 Hz. We are able to distinguish between temperature, instrument and OBS ground coupling effects, all of which alter the transfer function. This paper reviews our method of calibration and discusses the effects of temperature and some of the instrument design features on the vertical seismometer transfer function.     

underwThe Hawaii-2 Observatory seismic system

The Hawaii-2 Observatory seismic system is currently transmitting high-quality seismic data from the ocean floor in the central NE Pacific Ocean through Hawaii to the IRIS Data Management Center. The system includes broad-band seismic, geophone, acoustic, and ocean current sensors. The seismic sensors are buried about 0.4 m below the ocean floor to improve coupling to the ocean bottom and to reduce noise levels. The system can be remotely calibrated, leveled and locked, and gains can be changed on command from shore. Data are temporarily stored in the seismic package for retransmission as needed to correct for transmission problems and to prevent loss of data. Data generated are valuable for studies of the Earth's structure and the dynamics of earthquakes     

Waves and currents near the continental shelf edge

The abrupt depth increase which characterises the edge of many continental shelves determines a reduced horizontal length scale and a localised transition from shelf seas to the deep ocean. Particular forms of motion which may arise from the steep slopes include topographically guided currents along the slope, shelf-break upwelling, topographic Rossby waves and internal lee waves in the tidal current. The ocean/shelf mismatch may lead to a clear separation of water types, substantial reflection (from the shelf-edge neighbourhood) of all oceanic and shelf motions with periods greater than a few hours, and interaction between barotropic and baroclinic motions. Unstable longshelf currents, interleaving water masses, strong internal tides and internal waves, and narrow canyons enhance mixing across the shelf edge.     

Current-generated noise recorded on ocean bottom seismometers

High-amplitude, anrrow band noise that correlates with periods of high ocean bottom currents and the tidal cycle is occasionally observed on ocean bottom seismometers (OBS). The geophones on OBSs of different configurations are not equally sensitive to this noise and hydrophones are almost unaffected. With a suitable design, it should be possible to eliminate this noise problem.Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution No. 1173     

Ocean bottom refraction seismograph (OBRS)

This paper describes a pop-up ocean bottom seismograph designed primarily for refraction surveys both on the continental shelf and in deep sea. Its development is the extension of our system based on seismic detectors located on the sea floor with radio transmission of seismic signals and used for seismic refraction studies on the continental shelf. The seismic detectors (vertical geophone or hydrophone and two orthogonally mounted horizontal geophones) are located outside of the pressure vessel on the main frame. Optionally, the seismic sensors may be decoupled from the main frame assembly. This decoupling is performed by a mobile arm positioning the separate three component sensor package on the sea floor.Contribution No. 455 of the Département Scientifique, Centre Océanologique de Bretagne.     

Quantitative evaluation of a passively leveled ocean bottom seismometer

A problem in the use of ocean bottom seismometers is the difficulty in leveling the sensors while ensuring good coupling to the seafloor. We have investigated the coupling characteristics of the seismic sensors in the new ONR ocean bottom seismometer. In the deployable sensor package for that instrument, a three-component seismometer set is suspended on a 2-axis passive leveling gimbal and is immersed in a viscous fluid. We report tests, conducted in a seismic vault, comparing the output of a gimbaled seismometer set to that of a set rigidly coupled to the ground. Our results show that the degree to which the gimbaled set is coupled to ground motion is a function of the viscosity of the coupling fluid. The coherence between the two sensor sets is poor (<0.4) at some frequencies within the band of interest (0.15 to 20 Hz) and on some components when the viscosity of the coupling fluid is comparatively low (14 Pa-s or 0.16 kSt kinematic viscosity). In addition, the outputs of some components over portions of this frequency band are attenuated and are phase-shifted relative to the outputs of the set rigidly coupled to the ground. Coherence and phase response similarity improve as the viscosity of the coupling fluid is increased. With a coupling fluid viscosity of 980 Pa-s (10 kSt), coherence and phase agreement between the two sensor sets is good (>0.9) across nearly the entire band of interest on all three components. A simple analytical model of the gimbaled seismometer set as a damped, driven, compound-pendulum provides a basis for understanding the test results.     

Temperature and salinity of sea water at the ocean floor in the New Zealand region

The temperature and salinity of the water at the ocean floor has been estimated by extrapolation of selected serial station data. Plots of extrapolated bottom water temperatures and salinities against bottom depth are presented, together with a chart showing the regional distribution of bottom water temperature. Discussion of the results in terms of water masses is offered.     

Aggregation of the Arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus over the ocean floor of the Greenland Sea

According to combined observations from vertical plankton tows, dredging with epibenthic nets 1 m above the ocean floor, video recordings and acoustic data from a scanning sonar obtained during descent and during deployment on the ocean floor, the calanoid copepod Calanus hyperboreus was aggregated in high concentrations near the ocean floor of the Greenland Sea between 2300 and 2500 m during late July and August. Concentrations were highest very close to the ocean floor and decreased rapidly further upward. These nearly mono-specific aggregations were apparently drifting in cloud-like formations with a horizontal extension of ca. 270 m with the near-bottom currents. Maximum abundances observed were up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than in the water column. The biomass in the bottom 20 m layer was around 18% of the biomass in the rest of the water column. Stage composition, reduced metabolic rates and insensibility to mechanical stimuli indicate that these C. hyperboreus were representing the resting population. The fact that high concentrations were observed during deployments lasting >1 d and in 3 years suggests that aggregation near the ocean floor is a regular, rather than an extraordinary, pattern in the life history of C. hyperboreus in the Greenland Sea, but there is need for comparison with other seas and eventually other Calanus species.     

A note on the seafloor coupling characteristics of the new ONR ocean-bottom seismometer

A series of transient tests were conducted to determine the seafloor coupling characteristics of a new ocean-bottom seismometer (OBS) developed for the United States Office of Naval Research (ONR). The OBS comprises a large recording package and a separate sensor package that is deployed from the recording package. In addition to the coupling characteristics of both the sensor and the recording packages, the seismic energy radiated from the main recording package as a result of motion of the recording package was measured. The observed vertical coupling resonances of both the recording package and the sensor package are in good agreement with those predicted by a simple model of soil-structure interaction. The most important result of this study is that significant energy is radiated from the recording package in response to horizontal motions of the recording package. When the sensor package is 1 m from the recording package, the amplitude of the recorded signal is similar to that recorded in the recording package. In the field, this effect will result in distortion of seismic signals and increased background noise recorded by the sensor package if the recording package is disturbed by seafloor currents or biological activity. The amplitude of this signal attenuates by approximately a factor of two as sensor/recorder separation is increased from 1 to 6 m, suggesting that an improved response can be achieved by increasing the separation between the recording package and the sensors. This effect is much less severe for vertical disturbances of the recording package.     

An ocean bottom,microprocessor based seismometer

We describe the design and construction of an ocean bottom seismometer configured as a computer, based on an Intersil IM6100 microprocessor plus appropriate peripheral devices. The sensors consist of triaxial 1 Hz seismometers and a hydrophone, each sensor channel being filtered prior to digitizing so that typical noise spectra are whitened. Digital data are recorded serially on magnetic tape. The instrument is placed on the ocean bottom by allowing it to fall freely from just below the surface. An acoustic system allows precise determination of instrument position, acoustic recall, and transmission of operational information to the surface. Release from an expendable anchor is accomplished by redundant pyrotechnic bolts which can be fired by acoustic command or by precision timers.The operational flexibility provided by the micro-computer, which executes the DEC PDP8/E instruction set, enables optimum use of the 6-hr recording capacity (at 128 samples/second/channel) in the context of the particular experiment being performed.

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Infrasonic seismic and acoustic measurements in the deep ocean

The authors compare the signal-to-noise ratios obtained on bottomed seismometers, bottomed hydrophones, and buried seismometers from near-surface explosions in the Ngendei Expedition. The data were recorded in 5.5-km-deep water in the south central Pacific Ocean with a triaxial borehole seismograph and four triaxial ocean-bottom seismographs having externally mounted hydrophones. At ranges less than 35 km, the data indicate that the ocean bottom seismometer is a superior signal detector than the ocean-bottom hydrophone, and that the subbottom seismometer is superior in performance to the ocean-bottom seismometer. Above 4 Hz, the seismometer appears to have a 10-dB signal-to-noise advantage over the hydrophone for surface explosions at ranges less than 30 km     

Instrumental waveform distortion on ocean bottom seismometers

Data from the 1978 Lopez Island OBS Intercomparison Experiment and deep sea data from University of Washington OBSs show that there is a considerable amount of waveform distortion resulting from the conversion of horizontal motion into vertical motion, here called cross-coupling distortion. This distortion, which substancially reduces the significance of waveform matching with synthetic seismograms, appears to result from rotation imparted to the OBS package by near-vertically traveling shear energy. The degree of this rotation seems to depend on the instrument surface area above the seafloor and the geometry and surface area of the feet connecting the package to the seafloor. The sensitivity and response of the seismometers within the package to this rotation depends on the precise location of the seismometers with respect to the axis of rotation. The results suggest how to modify OBS designs to minimize these effects.University of Washington Contribution No. 1225.     

Seismic monitoring of western Pacific typhoons

Typhoons inflict large damage to societies, but are usually difficult to monitor in close proximity in real-time without expensive instruments. Here we study the possibility of using seismic waveforms on the seafloor and on land to monitor the turning of a far away or approaching typhoon. Up to 67% of the typhoons making landfall in Taiwan come from the eastern shore, so that we deployed broadband ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) offshore eastern Taiwan in 2006 to study ground motion in close proximity to a typhoon. Typhoons generate ocean waves, which generate pressure signals in the water column before being transmitted to the seafloor as seismic waves and recorded by the OBSs. The ground motions on the seafloor correlate with locally increased (ocean) wave heights and wave periods, suggesting that the ground motions are mostly induced by in situ or nearby pressure fields, as shown by coherence function analyses. When a typhoon turns and changes wave-wave interaction near the source region, a new set of en echelon patterns develops which can be observed by OBSs and land stations. Similar features occur when a typhoon crosses a landmass and re-enters the ocean. The energy level ratio between the single-frequency and double-frequency microseisms also changes abruptly when the typhoon turns. These features can potentially help near real-time early warning with little cost to complement other conventional typhoon early warning methods.     

A method to estimate the forces exerted by internal solitons on cylindrical piles

Internal soliton is the large amplitude wave existing in the pycnocline, induced by internal tide in the condition of special bottom topography. During its propagation process, the induced disturbance can bring about strong convergence of sea water and sudden strong current (wave-induced-current), which can cause severe threat to the ocean engineering structures, such as oil drilling platform and pipeline. In this paper, Morison’s empirical method, modal separation and regression analyses are introduced to estimate the forces and torques exerted by internal soliton on cylindrical piles. As an example, a limited set of observational data recording a passage of the internal soliton near Dongsha Islands is used to estimate the horizontal velocity and its acceleration in a vertical section for computing the force and torque on a supposed pile, and the estimation results are reasonable. It is shown that, the higher number of the modes retained in the calculation, the better the estimation of velocity profile fits the observational one. A better overall approximation to the real solution can be reached if there are more observational current data acquired in a whole vertical profile.     

A simple shaker table for seismometer calibration

A unique and simple shaker table (shake table or shaking table), designed, constructed, and installed at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, has proven to be a valuable aid in testing and calibrating short period seismometers, as well as ocean bottom and ocean sub-bottom seismometer/tilt meter packages. It consists of a platform suspended in a stairwell by a single elastic cord (10 m extended length) driven by GeoSpace HS-10 geophones. Platform motion is monitored by orthogonal reference geophones and tilt meters. The relatively low natural periods of the platform, about 1.9 sec vertical and 6.5 sec horizontal, provide sufficient isolation from local vibrations that calibration can be made near operational amplitudes. Vertical or horizontal driver geophones can be driven by a commercial signal generator or white noise generator, or from magnetic tape output. The table can also be tilted with respect to the drivers to determine tilt tolerances and to calibrate tilt meters. A Hewlett-Packard 3582-A spectrum analyzer, used to analyze both reference and output signals, provides near real-time system cabibration and is an efficient means for investigating parasitic system resonances. The analyzer can also provide a white noise signal source to the driver geophones.Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Contribution 1443.