HR: 0800h
AN: G11A-1182    [Abstracts]
TI: Nevada Earthquake Response GPS Network (NEARNET)
AU: * Blewitt, G
EM: gblewitt@unr.edu
AF: Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, MS 178, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: Hammond, W C
EM: whammond@unr.edu
AF: Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, MS 178, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: Kreemer, C
EM: kreemer@unr.edu
AF: Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, MS 178, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AU: Plag, H
EM: hpplag@unr.edu
AF: Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, MS 178, Reno, NV 89557 United States
AB: The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (NBMG), a statewide agency at the University of Nevada, has accepted the responsibility of responding to a Nevada earthquake by operating a Nevada post-earthquake technical information clearinghouse [ State of Nevada Standard Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, Oct 2004]. The NSMHM Plan identifies the need to be prepared to rapidly study a major event within the first few days after an earthquake. In preparation for a rapid earthquake response, the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory at NBMG has designed and has begun to implement a statewide 400-station GPS geodetic network with spatial resolution of approximately 20 km: (1) to provide existing, pre-earthquake geodetic control such that co-seismic displacements can be measured with 1 mm precision within days following any large earthquake that might affect anywhere in Nevada, (2) to monitor post-seismic deformation related to transient processes and stress transfer between active faults from days to years following large earthquakes, (3) to produce high resolution strain-rate maps toward improving neotectonic models of the Great Basin and seismic hazard assessment. From January 2004 - September 2005, 110 GPS control points have been installed and measured precisely in western Nevada and eastern California, spanning the Walker Lane and Central Nevada Seismic Belt (CNSB), where crustal strain rates are highest. Approximately 10 new control points are being added and measured every month, with approximately 30 days of continuous data collected at each point to establish epoch coordinates. NBMG now has approximately 50 GPS receivers deployed in NEARNET at any given time. A 60-station core of the NEARNET network (known as "MAGNET") spans the northern Walker Lane and CNSB at the latitude of Reno and is occupied approximately 50% of the time so that strain rates can be more rapidly resolved in this region. Aspects of the design, operation, and analysis of the NEARNET network are proving to mitigate problems that often plague GPS campaigns, and enhance the precision of coordinate time series. Preliminary crustal strain-rate maps are already becoming available using sites that have now been in operation for only just over one year. In addition to providing Nevada with an earthquake response capability, NEARNET serves multiple purposes, and is jointly funded by the State of Nevada and the Department of Energy's Geothermal Program and Yucca Mountain Project.
UR: http://geodesy.unr.edu
DE: 1209 Tectonic deformation (6924)
DE: 1242 Seismic cycle related deformations (6924, 7209, 7223, 7230)
DE: 1243 Space geodetic surveys
DE: 1294 Instruments and techniques
SC: Geodesy [G]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005