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ANSS-MA

Advanced National Seismic System - Mid-America Region

Current Status: November, 2000


NEHRP reauthorization signed into law as of November 19, 2000 as HR1550 and includes language supporting ANSS.


ANSS-MA Past Activities

  1. Organizational Meeting: Memphis, 18 April, 2000.
  2. First ANSS-MA Regional Subcommittee Meeting: St Louis, 31 May, 2000.

ANSS-MA Current Activities

  1. MAE Center SG-11 devliverable: ANSS-MA management and implementation plan by January, 2001.
  2. Reviewed earthquake notification list implemented (70 members).
  3. Recent earthquakes (QDDS/CNSSM/REQ) implemented.
  4. Temporary web site implemented.
  5. Community Internet Intensity Maps.
  6. CSUSN formed from four USGS-NEHRP regional seismic networks.


ANSS-MA Past Activities

Organizational Meeting: Memphis, 18 April, 2000.

An initial meeting of several interested parties was held at CERI at the University of Memphis on April 18, 2000. The purpose of the meeting was to provide initial direction on how planning should proceed for implementation of the ANSS in the central U.S. This meeting was motivated by the results of the February 29, 2000 Interim National Committee meeting in Albuquerque which expressed a need for a maximum of six to ten self-organized regions and a strong likelihood for the central U.S. to be targeted for several sensors in FY 2001. The attendees at the Memphis meeting were chosen for convenience and association with a specific discipline, and were not necessarily intended as members of the regional subcommittee. Our goal was simply to get the ball rolling.

Attendees: Harley Benz, Arch Johnston, Mitch Withers, Jim Beavers, Bob Herrmann, Norm Hester, John Keifer, Joan Gomberg, Gary Patterson, Buddy Schweig, Chris Cramer, Jim Wilkinson, and Haydar Al-Shukri.

Minutes from the meeting are available.

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Areal extent proposed.

The tier of states from North Dakato to Texas will be logistically challenging. West Texas is better suited for inclusion within the Intermountain West region. There was strong consesus to include the Dakota tier due to tectonic similarities with the region, Texas affiliations with the MAE Center, and to avoid a "no man's land." Further, particularly with respect to Emergency Management Agencies, it was strongly recommended to draw administrative boundaries along state lines. This implies keeping west Texas within the CUS region. Operational boundaries will necessarily need to be "fuzzy." Because the Delaware Geological Survey already contributes to the SE bulletin and long time relationships with the SE coallition of networks, it was decided to include Delaware and Maryland in the region. Pennsylvania has similarities that could include it, but proximity to LDEO provides a stronger argument for it to be included in the New England region. Such a challenging region will likely require a full-time regional coordinator with 2 or 3 staff people possibly as MAE Center employees.

A map of the regions for the conterminous U.S. is available.

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Regional Subcommittee makeup proposed and potential members targeted.

The makeup of the regional subcommittee should be a balanced, diverse group including representatives from seismology, network seismology, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, industry risk management, education and outreach, emergency management, state geological surveys, seismic safety commissions, transportation, strong motion engineering, and global seismology.

A list of the committee members is available.

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First ANSS-MA Regional Subcommittee Meeting: St Louis, 31 May, 2000.

The Central U.S. Regional Subcommittee for the Advanced National Seismic System is the governing body of the Advanced National Seismic System-Central Region (ANSS-CR) and is hereafter used interchangeably with the ANSS-CR. The ANSS-CR was initially organized at an informal meeting in Memphis on May 15, 2000. The committee met formally at the Annual EERI meeting in St. Louis on May 31, 2000. The purpose of this meeting was to make a few basic decisions and discuss directions in which to move forward. The meeting was open to all who wished to attend. Attendees: Mitch Withers (CERI/MAEC), Glenn Rix (GIT/MAEC), Bob Herrmann (SLU/MAEC), Mike Hamburger (Indiana U), Norm Hester (CUSEC State Geol.), Carl Stepp, Tom Roeseler (Bank of America), Yousef Hashesh (Urbana), Kinemetrics, Mehmet Celebi (USGS), Glenn Fulkerson (FHWA), Martin Chapman (VPI), Gary Patterson (CERI/MAEC), David Boore (USGS), Art Frankel (USGS), Jim Beavers (MAEC), John Keifer (KYGS), Harley Benz (USGS).

Minutes are available.

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Proposed areal extent of region finalized.

The tier of states from North Dakato to Texas will be logistically challenging. West Texas is better suited for inclusion within the Intermountain West region. There was strong consesus to include the Dakota tier due to tectonic similarities with the region, Texas affiliations with the MAE Center, and to avoid a "no man's land." Further, particularly with respect to Emergency Management Agencies, it was strongly recommended to draw administrative boundaries along state lines. This implies keeping west Texas within the CUS region. Operational boundaries will necessarily need to be "fuzzy." Because the Delaware Geological Survey already contributes to the SE bulletin and long time relationships with the SE coallition of networks, it was decided to include Delaware and Maryland in the region. Pennsylvania has similarities that could include it, but proximity to LDEO provides a stronger argument for it to be included in the New England region. Such a challenging region will likely require a full-time regional coordinator with 2 or 3 staff people possibly as MAE Center employees.

A map of the regions for the conterminous U.S. is available.

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Regional Subcommittee finalized.

The makeup of the regional subcommittee should be a balanced, diverse group including representatives from seismology, network seismology, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, industry risk management, education and outreach, emergency management, state geological surveys, seismic safety commissions, transportation, strong motion engineering, and global seismology.

A list of the committee members is available.

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Top-level organizational strucuture finalized.

Because Education and Outreach are considered critical to success there will be a permanent, supported E\&O component. Potential leaders for this component include Larry Braile, Phil Gould, and Gary Patterson. The ANSS-CR will act as a clearinghouse for information but will rely on and support local experts. Network operators provide information and resources to the ANSS-CR and vice-versa. There are many operators within the region and while it is a challenge to persuade all to operate under the ANSS-CR aegis, it is also a strength. The regional coordinator provides the interface between the ANSS-CR, its operators, the Regional Subcommittee, and the National Steering Committee. Withers sees no reason why the coordinator could not also be the Regional Subcommittee Chair (as well as the CERI seismic networks director with additional staff). Other regions interface via the ANSS-CR but physical connections may be directly with the operator. Working groups will form and disband as needed. End users have two mechanisms for providing feedback: directly via the E\&O and via a to be formed End Users Advisory Group.

The diagram is available.

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Working groups formed with directive to proceed.

To reduce the time commitment required of committee members, working groups will be formed to investigate technical and detailed matters. Two such groups are established: Siting, and Operations. Because of the potential for the region to recieve urban strong motion hardware, results from the siting group are time sensitive. Their goal is to provide a prioritized list of potential sites. Members of this group are Glenn Rix, Norm Hester, Martin Chapman, and Mehmet Celebi. Mitch Withers will be forming the Ops group in the near future.

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ANSS-MA Current Activities

MAE Center SG-11 devliverable: ANSS-MA management and implementation plan by January, 2001.

This project, pending MAE Center year 4 funding, will provide the necessary financial resources for meetings to be held and for the management and implementation plan to be produced.

The proposed task statement is available.

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Reviewed earthquake notification list implemented (70 members).

Previously regional networks sent notifications of earthquakes to a list of people and you had to know someone to get on the list. We have established a {\ital majordomo list-server} notification list with a web-based subscription mechanism. Anyone may sign up from the ANSS-CR web site. Currently 65 people have signed up and includes the general public, scientists, media, emergency managers, and network operators.

Sign up for the list.

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Recent earthquakes (QDDS/CNSSM/REQ) implemented.

This is the end product of the QDDS/CNSSM/REQ system running at CERI and is the result of efforts by many and principally by Stephen Jacob, Andy Michael, and Bob Simpson. QDDS is the Quick Data Distribution System. It is a hub and leaf based system for distributing cube format messages to participants. Current hubs are at Menlo Park and Reston. CERI injects automatic locations into the system followed by reviewed locations (or deletions) when they are available. CNSSM is the CNSS Merge Program listens for QDDS messages and produces a catalog based on the CNSS composite catalog merging rules (e.g. authoritative regions are applied). REQ is the recent earthquakes program that watches the CNSSM catalog and updates the web pages when something changes.

ANSS-MA recenteqs

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Temporary web site implemented. The temporary website will move to either the MAE Center or a .org address when a final acronym is determined. Information available at this site includes:

The temporary web address is: http://www.anss-ma.org.

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Community Internet Intensity Maps.

Both ANSS-MA and CERI web-based felt report forms are simply links to Dave Wald's http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ciim_other.html. It incorporates QDDS messages. The felt data are available on request. This is the way the nation is going. The ANSS-MA may consider a mirror in the future.

A recent example from a magnitude 3.9 near Russellville, AR.

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CSUSN formed from four USGS-NEHRP regional seismic networks.

In figure triangles are shortperiod, square are broadband. Red is CERI, Blue is SLU, Green is USC, Lt Blue is VPI, Yellow is UTK, Black is UKY, and brown is USNSN. Orange squares are both SLU and CERI broadbands. Red lines are current internet-based real-time exchange. Not shown are connections between CERI, SLU, USC, VPI and Golden.

Real-time Integration of Networks

Near-real-time data exchange between SLU, CERI, USC, VPI, and the USNSN is operational Under the auspices of the ANSS-MA we will continue to integrate and provide technical support to other non-USGS funded networks within the region. Data exchange details are provided in the following list delineated by processing node:

  1. CAPE Cape Girardeau, MO (operated by SLU)
  2. SLU Saint Louis, MO (operated by SLU)
  3. BLO, MPH, UALR Quanterrra Nodes (operated by SLU) A local Sparc 5 provides an earthworm ring buffer in addition to the currently continuously saved Quanterra mini-SEED buffers. This extra capability provides real time data streams for automatic location in addition to preserving the continuously archived data stream. Currently stations with local Sparcs also provide data streams to NEIC's USNSN through a VDL (Virtual Data Logger) module
  4. CHAS Charleston, SC (operated by USC)
  5. COSC Columbia, SC (operated by USC)
  6. BLA Blacksburg, VA (operated by VPI)
  7. LRNC Hickory, NC (operated by CERI)
  8. STAR Star Mountain near Athens, TN (operated by CERI)
  9. MTTN Morristown, TN (operated by CERI)
  10. NMAD New Madrid, MO (operated by CERI)
  11. LNXT Lennox, TN (operated by CERI)
  12. MKTA Marked Tree, AR (operated by CERI)
  13. CERI Memphis, TN (operated by CERI)
  14. Future Data Streams the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville will integrate via the MTTN node. The University of Indiana will integrate via the SLU node. Integration points for other weak motion networks will be determined when appropriate. Strong motion integration hinges on the strong motion network operators (e.g. Army Corps of Engineers, Veterans Administration) near-real-time and automated accessibility capabilities. The National Strong Motion Program (NSMP) operates 28 stations within the region that are currently undergoing upgrades to Kinemetrics, Inc. Altus series near-real-time recorders. NSMP will be integrated in one of two ways that will be investigated and determined in FY2001. One way will be to connect to the NSMP Network Management System in Menlo Park, CA via internet to access triggered data streams. If feasible and funded, however, the preferred method will be to add functionality to the NSMP stations within the region and link directly to the nearest processing node for continuous near-real-time integration into the ANSS-CR.

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