Seismic Quality Assurance

Rick Benson
IRIS DMC

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Why Routine Quality

Control ?

The sooner problems are detected the sooner they can be fixed

Sensor malfunctions, misconfigurations,

aging
Digitizer & recorder malfunctions
Vault problems: tilting, settling, etc
Cable & connection problems
Telemetry issues
Timing problems
Many, many other potential issues
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

QC at the IRIS-DMC
The Challenge:
A small number of analysts tasked to perform
QC on hundreds of stations and thousands of
channels (without routine event review).
The Solution:
Minimize manual analyst work (obviously) by
automating as many measurements and
monitoring systems as possible and making
manual analysis as efficient as possible.
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Manual QC at the DMC

Visual review of raw data for selected events and,
importantly, selections with no events
Visual review of filtered (e.g. 30-300 seconds) data
where sensor problems can sometimes be detected
before they are evident in the unfiltered data
Polarity checks using large events and the
quadrant method
Check residuals between reviewed phase picks and
predicted arrivals for gross time or location errors
Review of measurements and alerts from
automated systems
Etc.
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Quick Horizontal Polarity

Check

The quadrant method allows an analyst to perform a rough check of

3-component sensor horizontal polarity.

Compare the P wave first motion of a relatively large event between the
3 components to determine back azimuth:

0
Nout

Zout

270

90

Allinphase

Eout
AleutianIslandevent::Texas,USAstation(BA:~317)

180
* Assumes Z component polarity is correct.
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Automated QC at the DMC

Quality Analysis Control Kit
(QUACK)
Automated QC measurements for incoming realtime data at the DMC
Tracks a number of simple parameters (signal
RMS, mean, gaps, overlaps, etc.) in addition to
more complicated analyses (PSD/PDF, STA/LTA)
Generates daily reports, using thresholds to
control what information is included in the report
in order to reduce the number of issues that
need attention
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tracking Signal RMS

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Daily RMS Indicates

Problems

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tracking Signal Mean

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tracking Data Flow

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tracking STA/LTA Values

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

PDF of Power Spectral

Density

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Clickable PDFs to Find Time

Dependencies

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

PDF Calculation
Current implementations require Mini-SEED and
SEED (RESP) system response information
PDF calculation available in the new PQLX analysis
package
An older stand-alone PDF package is available:
http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/staffweb/mcnamara/So
ftware/PDFSA.html
PDFs calculated daily for real-time data received at
the IRIS-DMC, stored in database
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Analysis
Primary gravitational tides are predictable
Most seismic sensors are not designed for such low frequencies
& response information may not address them
Pretty much only a true broadband sensor will record the tides
The idea:
compare recorded seismic data to predicted gravitational tides
Tests both waveform data (polarity, shape) and metadata
(instrument response)

Nov 8-17, 2009

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Comparison at IU.SAML

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Comparison at
TA.H02A

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Comparison at PR.ICM

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Comparison Without

Response Information

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Tide Prediction Software

syntides - Synthetic Earth Gravity Tides (IRISDMC)
Output: Mini-SEED, SAC or ASCII tide synthetics
Convolves instrument response (SAC format)
Tide calculation a port of the SPOTL ertid program

SPOTL - Some Programs for Ocean-Tide Loading

Output: ASCII text
Includes software to calculate solid earth gravity tide,
ocean loading components, etc.
Written by Duncan Agnew, UCSD
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

SEED Metadata Verfication

verseed - verifies base SEED data structure and
formatting (IRIS-DMC)
Works with full SEED, dataless and Mini-SEED
combined with dataless SEED (verseed -a)
Includes multiple levels (1-4) of diagnostic
information
Basic metadata verification but not response
evaluation
C program that runs on Solaris, Linux and Mac
OSX
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

verseed example output

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Other verseed Examples

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

SEED Response Evaluation

evalresp - evaluates system amplitude and phase
response using SEED RESP format. C program that
runs on Solaris, Linux & Mac OSX.
JEvalResp - Java version of evalresp, runs anywhere
Java is available. Reads either SEED RESP format
or fetches response information from a DHI server.
JPlotResp - evaluates and plots system amplitude
and phase response using SEED RESP format.
Reads either SEED RESP format or fetches
response information from a DHI server.
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

JPlotResp Usage

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

JPlotResp Console

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- BrazilData

JPlotResp Output

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

JPlotResp Output Per Stage

August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil

Other Quality Control

Resources
QC Forum collaborative web site:
http://www.iris.edu/QCForum
General use QC mailing list:
qc-issues@iris.washington.edu
New Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice
(NMSOP) from IASPEI:
http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/bib/nmsop_formular.html
PQLX data analysis system (waveforms & PDFs):
http://geohazards.cr.usgs.gov/staffweb/mcnamara/Software/PQLX.html
August 13-19,
2010

Data Management Workshop

Foz do Iguassu- Brazil