Recovery and Calibration of Legacy Underground Nuclear Test Seismic Data from the Leo Brady Seismic Network
Abstract
The Leo Brady Seismic Network (LBSN, originally the Sandia Seismic Network) was established in 1960 by Sandia National Laboratories to monitor underground nuclear tests (UGTs) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly named the Nevada Test Site). The LBSN has been in various configurations throughout its existence, but it has generally been comprised of four to six stations at regional distances (~150–400 km) from the NNSS with approximately evenly spaced azimuthal coverage. Between 1962 and the end of nuclear testing in 1992, the LBSN—and a sister network operated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories—was the most comprehensive United States source of regional seismic data of UGTs. Approximately 75% of all UGTs performed by the United States occurred in the predigital era. At that time, LBSN data were transmitted as frequency-modulated (FM) audio over telephone lines to a central location and recorded as analog waveforms on high-fidelity magnetic audio tapes. These tapes have been in dry temperature-stable storage for decades and contain the sole record of this irreplaceable data; full waveforms of LBSN-recorded UGTs from this era were not routinely digitized or otherwise published. We have developed a process to recover and calibrate data from these tapes. First, we play backmore »
- Authors:
-
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1618089
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-2019-13642J
Journal ID: ISSN 0895-0695; 681256
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Seismological Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 91; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0895-0695
- Publisher:
- Seismological Society of America
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Young, Brian A., and Abbott, Robert E. Recovery and Calibration of Legacy Underground Nuclear Test Seismic Data from the Leo Brady Seismic Network. United States: N. p., 2020.
Web. doi:10.1785/0220190341.
Young, Brian A., & Abbott, Robert E. Recovery and Calibration of Legacy Underground Nuclear Test Seismic Data from the Leo Brady Seismic Network. United States. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190341
Young, Brian A., and Abbott, Robert E. Wed .
"Recovery and Calibration of Legacy Underground Nuclear Test Seismic Data from the Leo Brady Seismic Network". United States. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220190341. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1618089.
@article{osti_1618089,
title = {Recovery and Calibration of Legacy Underground Nuclear Test Seismic Data from the Leo Brady Seismic Network},
author = {Young, Brian A. and Abbott, Robert E.},
abstractNote = {The Leo Brady Seismic Network (LBSN, originally the Sandia Seismic Network) was established in 1960 by Sandia National Laboratories to monitor underground nuclear tests (UGTs) at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly named the Nevada Test Site). The LBSN has been in various configurations throughout its existence, but it has generally been comprised of four to six stations at regional distances (~150–400 km) from the NNSS with approximately evenly spaced azimuthal coverage. Between 1962 and the end of nuclear testing in 1992, the LBSN—and a sister network operated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories—was the most comprehensive United States source of regional seismic data of UGTs. Approximately 75% of all UGTs performed by the United States occurred in the predigital era. At that time, LBSN data were transmitted as frequency-modulated (FM) audio over telephone lines to a central location and recorded as analog waveforms on high-fidelity magnetic audio tapes. These tapes have been in dry temperature-stable storage for decades and contain the sole record of this irreplaceable data; full waveforms of LBSN-recorded UGTs from this era were not routinely digitized or otherwise published. We have developed a process to recover and calibrate data from these tapes. First, we play back and digitize the tapes as audio. Next, we demodulate the FM “audio” into individual waveforms. We then estimate the various instrument constants through careful measurement of “weight-lift” tests performed prior to each UGT on each instrument. Finally, these coefficients allow us to scale and shape the derived instrument response of the seismographs and compute poles and zeros. Finally, the result of this process is a digital record of the recorded seismic ground motion in a modern data format, stored in a searchable database. To date, we have digitized tapes from 592 UGTs.},
doi = {10.1785/0220190341},
journal = {Seismological Research Letters},
number = 3,
volume = 91,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2020},
month = {Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2020}
}
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