Long-term broadband seismic observatory in Monterey Bay
Project Manager and
Lead Scientist: Barbara Romanowicz
Lead Engineer: Paul McGill
The Monterey Ocean Bottom Broadband (MOBB) experiment is a three-component broadband seismic system, including auxiliary sensors, autonomous battery power, and a data recording package mounted inside a trawl-resistant structure. The system is installed 40 kilometers offshore in Monterey Bay, and the data package is exchanged every three months by ROV Ventana. The seismometer package is buried under the sea floor (deployed in April 2002). The long-term vision is to connect the sensor package to the MARS cable when it is in place. This will alleviate the need for frequent service trips and will send data continuously to the Northern California Earthquake Data Center (NCEDC). In addition, the connection to MARS will be a pilot demonstration experiment, essential to the success of future efforts to deploy deep-sea seismometers on cabled networks. The objective for 2005 is to create a detailed plan for the MOBB-to-MARS connection, including a design review.