FOR LOWFREQUENCY SEISMOMETRY - IRIS

6. Education and FundingThe future generations of sensor developers must come fromthe universities. There is always a need for innovation in instrumentation,and there are many instances of science andunderstanding advancing when data, previously unobtainable,are provided by new instruments. The seismology community,however, is faced with the potential of reduced accessto some signals from Earth (see Box 2), which are vital for increasedunderstanding. As detailed elsewhere, the seismometerproviding most of the low-frequency data is no longerbeing manufactured.This lack of new sensor designs is symptomatic of a ratherserious situation in universities. There is rapidly disappearingexpertise in sensor design. Sensor design projects are difficultto fund through normal NSF research proposals. Thereare special programs within NSF, but they tend to be focusedon cutting-edge technologies and may not be receptive. Asa result, all of the surface-installed broadband seismometersin the GSN and PASSCAL programs, and in EarthScope’sUSArray, have been manufactured overseas. This situation isvery different from that of the first major global seismologyproject, the WWSSN (World-Wide Standardized SeismographicNetwork). At that time (late 1950s), it was natural tobuy all the sensors from US manufacturers because they ledthe world.Clearly, some action is needed to improve the situation.At least two approaches are necessary. First, there must begraduate fellowship support available for sensor development.This opportunity must be publicized to the community.Second, because faculty expertise no longer exists widely,faculty internships to industry and other institutions will beeffective. This kind of program has been very effective in othercountries, such as Japan.20