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Here are some of the articles that have been recently posted to the PASSCAL website:

DAS for Year Round Polar Programs

Quanterra Q330

To record seismic data during the extremely cold Polar nights, the IRIS PASSCAL Polar Group relies on the Quanterra Q330 digitizer due to its exceedingly low temperature tolerance.   The Q330 is a 24 bit, 3 or 6 channel digitizer. In addition to its very low temperature tolerance, its very low power consumption makes it ideal for year round experiments in the Antarctic deep field.

 

Year Round Equipment for Polar Projects

Here are several documents regarding year round equipment for Polar Projects. Batteries DAS Power Box Sensors Solar Station Enclosure Vaults

Polar Posters and Presentations

Polar Posters and Presentations

 

Polar Technology Conference, 2016

Download Presentation: 6.2MB Polar Technology Conference, 2015

Download Presentation: 3.5MB McMurdo Science Talk, 2015-16

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Programming a Texan with Mini-Hub

The Mini-Hub is functionaly identical to the normal, full-sized, hub except it can only program 3 texans at a time (instead of the normal 15). It was designed in-house to act as a light weight and more portable version of the full-sized hub for when field conditions require the texans to be backpacked into a remote site.

Programming texans is identical when using either the normal hub or the mini-hub. See the Texan Programming with Pocus page for more details.

Instrument Use Policy

Sept 12, 2006 INTRODUCTION

Portable field recording equipment and field computers purchased by the PASSCAL Program are available to any research or educational institution to use for research purposes within the guidelines established in this document. The intent of these guidelines is to establish the procedures to enable investigators to request the instruments, to let them know what requirements and responsibilities are incurred in borrowing the equipment and to know when and how the decisions on instrument allocation will be made.

Field Preparation Checklist for Polar Programs

This checklist is a list of items to consider while preparing for a new field project.  It is aimed at providing a list of things to think about while making preparations for and assessments of possible seismic sites. This checklist is also appropriate for the initial installations and for the removal of the equipment at the end of the project. These guidelines are fairly general but focused for polar regions.  It applies more to the Arctic and Sub-arctic regions rather than Antarctica, because for Antarctic projects, a lot of these issues are dealt with by the US Antarctic Program.

  

Site Assessment: Climatic conditions:Wind, snow, temperature, altitude, ... Access: On foot: conditions (all year, seasonal), roughness of terrain, safety, man power, ... By wheeled/tracked vehicle: conditions (all year, seasonal), roughness of terrain, ... By fixed wings aircraft: airstrip conditions (all year, seasonal), typical weather conditions,cost, availability, safety, permitting, ... By helicopter: landing zone conditions, typical weather conditions, cost, availability, safety, permitting, ... By boat:land base vs. ship base, ease of access to land, protection from storms, issues of accidental introductions of rats and other non-native species to protected islands, cost, availability, safety, ... Permitting (Public land, private land, restricted land, fees, monitored access, limited access to certain dates, etc). Type of ground: Rock, mud, snow, ice, vegetation, sand, gravel, etc. Hazards to the equipment: Wildlife: Bears (very destructive!), rodents, foxes, cows, etc. Humans: Theft, vandalism, etc. Hazards to crew personnel: Climatic conditions. Access (steepness of terrain, crevasses, isolation, volcanic area, etc). Wildlife (Bears, moose, etc). Humans (locals with guns, etc). Site Installation: Dates: Choice of dates to simplify logistics and installation. Take into account climatic conditions. Personnel, transport and equipment availability. Maximize data return. Minimize cost. Permitting: For land use. For access. For use of vehicle or aircrafts Transport: Personnel:customs issues, ... Equipment:customs issues, potential HazMat, ... Housing: Food: Contingencies:Things rarely all go as planned. Site Removal and Equipment Regrograde: Permitting:land reclamation requirements. Transport:Methods, customs issues, potential HazMat, scheduling. Returning equipment to PASSCAL Instrument Center:

Electrical Diagrams

Power Management Module (PMM):  Enclosure containing the charge controller and power switcher.
Short battery harness:  Connects battery to multiple battery harness or other load cable.
Short 5-pin/3 battery:  Connects primary and rechargeable batteries to PMM.
Battery harness connects 2:  Connects 2 rechargeable batteries together.
Battery harness connects 10:  Connects 10 primary battery packs together.
Battery harness connects 8:  Connects 8 rechargeable batteries together.

Insulated Sensor Vault Drawings

Vault Equipment Drawings Vault Double wall UV resistant polyethylene shell 2" thick indexed phenolic sensor base 3" thick polystyrene insulation Trillium 240 or Guralp T3 seismometers Detailed Drawings 3" Thick Insulation 2" Thick Indexed Phenolic Base Double Wall UV Resistant Polyethylene Shell

Polar Design Drawings

PASSCAL's strategy for designing cold-hardened seismic systems is driven by the need to maximize heat efficiency and minimize payload while maintaining continuous recording throughout the Polar winter. Our design is for a basic 2W autonomous system. Power is provided by a primary Lithium Thionyl Chloride battery pack and is backed by a secondary, solar charged AGM battery pack. Station enclosures are heavily insulated and rely on instrument generated heat to keep the dataloggers within operating specification. Although insulated, broadband sensors are operated close to ambient temperature.