About PASSCAL

The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Program for Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere (PASSCAL) Instrument Center and EarthScope USArray Array Operations Facility (AOF) at New Mexico Tech support cutting-edge seismological research into Earth’s fundamental geological structure and processes. The facility provides instrumentation for National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and otherwise funded seismological experiments around the world. PASSCAL experiment support includes seismic instrumentation, equipment maintenance, software, data archiving, training, logistics, and field installation.

Continued expansion of IRIS activities at New Mexico Tech via the EarthScope and other initiatives has spurred a major facility expansion, the EarthScope USArray Array Operations Facility. The AOF was officially dedicated on April 6, 2005 by the New Mexico Tech administration and the IRIS Board of Directors. The combined PASSCAL Instrument Center and AOF currently support a total of 33 professional New Mexico Tech staff, as well as a contingent of student workers.

PASSCAL and USArray Flexible Array equipment is available to any research or educational institution to use for research purposes within the guidelines of established policies. These policies provide that data collected with PASSCAL and/or USArray equipment be archived at the IRIS Data Management Center and that the data are openly available to the community. Instruments can be requested online using the PASSCAL Instrument Request Forms.

Data Archiving Workshop

PASSCAL Data Archiving Workshop December 13, 2009 San Francisco - Palomar Hotel

A PASSCAL data archiving workshop is offered prior to Fall AGU Meeting in San Francisco. We will present new methods and tools, and outline best practices for archiving PASSCAL and Flexible Array data. PASSCAL users who are new or unfamiliar with seismic data processing, or those who simply wish a refresher in basic concepts and procedures, are especially encouraged to attend this one-day workshop.

11/04/2009

PIC Workshop for Antelope and its Interfaces with Matlab and Python

FOCUSED WORKSHOP – DATA PROCESSING TOOLS AND ANALYSIS USING BRTT TOOLS AND PYTHON/MATLAB INTERFACE

NEW! DOWNLOADS OF WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS IN PDF FORMAT

11/03/2009

August/September 2009 New Mexico Earthquake Swarm in the Central Rio Grande Rift

Courtesy Jana Stakova-Pursley, NMT

09/25/2009

Array of Arrays: Elusive ETS in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

ETS, or 'episodic tremor and slip', is a recently discovered phenomenon in seismic research. Similar to earthquakes but much smaller in magnitude, ETS events are associated with the subduction zone of some convergent plate boundaries. One such region, the Cascadia subduction zone under the Puget Sound, is the focus of an experiment by Ken Creager's group at the University of Washington (UW), called Array of Arrays.

10/01/2009

Sierra Negra Volcano, Galápagos Islands Deployment

In July and August of 2009, seven scientists deployed several seismic sensors for a two-year multidisciplinary study of one of the world's most active volcanoes, the Sierra Negra Volcano of the Galápagos Islands. The project's official name is “Collaborative Research: An integrated seismic-geodetic study of active magmatic processes at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos Islands.”

09/08/2009

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