The Black Forest Observatory, Schiltach

The purpose of the geoscientific Observatory at Schiltach in the Black Forest in SW-Germany is to measure and monitor motions and deformations of the earth in a frequency band as broad as possible. The spectrum of geodynamic signal contains

• - the short period waves (up to 40 Hz) of near earthquakes,

• - the longer period body and surface waves from teleseismic events,

• - the free oscillations of the earth excited by giant earthquakes,

• - the earth tide deformations caused by the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun having periods of 12 h and longer,

• - deformations of the earth in a wide period range from other sources (e.g. atmosphere).

Besides providing high quality data with some continuity using ‘standard’ sensors, the observatory must be considered as an experimental station and research facility where new instruments and techniques can be tested.