Over the past year, EarthScope’s Common Sensor Platform (CSP) project has moved from its design stage to implementation, with engineers working to prototype, test, and validate its core design and engineering workflows.
Two new prototype platforms—the Integrated Collaborative Enclosure for Arctic/Antarctic Geophysical Experiments (ICEAGE) and Roadrunner—are prime examples of the CSP’s goal of developing standardized station designs for geophysical instrumentation being brought to fruition.
These station designs are both integrated seismic and GNSS systems (with optional meteorology sensors) that can be deployed for the same scientific and research objectives. However, they have been developed for extremely different use cases based on the location and duration of deployment. Their design also represents the modular and scalable elements of a CSP station, with batteries and solar panels that can vary in type and quantity to ensure adequate power needs.
The ICEAGE platform is being developed as the baseline system for year-round deployment in polar regions. Geophysical stations in polar regions are subject to some of the most extreme environments, needing to withstand cold, wind, and long winter months without daylight. Engineers are currently at work constructing the first prototype ICEAGE station. The station will then be tested in one of the cold chambers at the EarthScope Primary Instrument Center (EPIC) to ensure its components can withstand the harsh polar chill. The following year, ICEAGE will be brought down to the ice for in situ cold testing and deployment at the Castle Rock site in Antarctica.
