HR: 10:50h
AN: ED32A-03 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Seismic Sensors to Supercomputers: Internet Mapping and Computational Tools for Teaching and Learning about Earthquakes and the Structure of the Earth from Seismology
AU: * Meertens, C M
EM: meertens@unavco.org
AF: UNAVCO, 6350 Nautilus Drive, Boulder, CO 80301 United States
AU: Seber, D
EM: seber@sdsc.edu
AF: San Diego Supercomputer Center, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093 United States
AU: Hamburger, M
EM: hamburg@indiana.edu
AF: Dept. of Geological Sciences Indiana University, 1001 East Tenth St., Bloomington, IN 47405 United States
AB: The Internet has become an integral resource in the classrooms and homes of teachers and students. Widespread Web-access to seismic data and analysis tools enhances opportunities for teaching and learning about earthquakes and the structure of the earth from seismic tomography. We will present an overview and demonstration of the UNAVCO Voyager Java- and Javascript-based mapping tools (jules.unavco.org) and the Cornell University/San Diego Supercomputer Center (www.discoverourearth.org) Java-based data analysis and mapping tools. These map tools, datasets, and related educational websites have been developed and tested by collaborative teams of scientific programmers, research scientists, and educators. Dual-use by research and education communities ensures persistence of the tools and data, motivates on-going development, and encourages fresh content. With these tools are curricular materials and on-going evaluation processes that are essential for an effective application in the classroom. The map tools provide not only seismological data and tomographic models of the earth's interior, but also a wealth of associated map data such as topography, gravity, sea-floor age, plate tectonic motions and strain rates determined from GPS geodesy, seismic hazard maps, stress, and a host of geographical data. These additional datasets help to provide context and enable comparisons leading to an integrated view of the planet and the on-going processes that shape it. Emerging Cyberinfrastructure projects such as the NSF-funded GEON Information Technology Research project (www.geongrid.org) are developing grid/web services, advanced visualization software, distributed databases and data sharing methods, concept-based search mechanisms, and grid-computing resources for earth science and education. These developments in infrastructure seek to extend the access to data and to complex modeling tools from the hands of a few researchers to a much broader set of users. The GEON SYNSEIS system, for example, allows a user to access the IRIS seismic data center from an interactive map interface and to retrieve earthquakes, seismic stations, and corresponding seismic waveforms. A 3D crustal structure model is then drawn from a different web service. The user defines earthquake source parameters and then generates a synthetic seismogram using validated software running on a remote supercomputer. As this information technology matures and becomes a part of everyday Internet infrastructure, tools such as this will have the potential for significant impact on education and research.
DE: 7200 SEISMOLOGY
DE: 1242 Seismic deformations (7205)
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting