Descr: Multimax, Inc., Washington University in Saint Louis, the University of Baghdad, and Iraq Meteorological Organization/Seismology Department plan to jointly deploy and operate up to ten, three component portable broadband seismic stations, in northern and northeastern Iraq for a period of approximately 36 months. The effort exploits an unprecedented opportunity to conduct a field experiment inside Iraq to collect and analyze previously unattainable ground-truth data, review historical seismograms recorded by nearby stations of Iraq Seismological Network, and study the seismological and seismotectonic characteristics of the region. The focus of this investigation is to estimate the seismic velocity and attenuation structures, and to understand the propagation of regional phases throughout this tectonically active zone of the relatively young Zagros orogenic belt. Due to its proximity to areas of interest in the Middle East, this region has been and will continue to be, of v! ital interest to the seismological community. It is also selected due to its frequent seismic activity, and to its secure environment relative to other parts of the country in the aftermath of operation Iraqi Freedom. The seismological instruments for the project will be borrowed from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, Program for the Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere. All aspects of the project and field deployment will be managed by Multimax. Following a brief period of on the job training on the installed hardware and software, operation of the stations will be the responsibility of the Iraqi seismologists and technicians
