3:45 PM - 4:00 PM
[HCG21-02] The hydrophone stations of the International Monitoring System - Status and perspectives on network sustainment
Keywords:IMS, CTBT, SOFAR, Hydroacoustics, Hydrophone station, Sustainment
As part of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of 1996, the objective of the International Monitoring System (IMS) is to detect nuclear explosions on land, in the atmosphere, and in the ocean. The IMS includes eleven hydroacoustic receiver sites: Five land-based, high-frequency seismometer and six hydrophone triplet stations. The latter are typically deployed near remote islands and at the depth of the Sound-Fixing-and-Ranging (SOFAR) channel, a minimum velocity layer in the oceanic water column where low-frequency sound travels most efficiently.
In this presentation, we provide an overview of the status of the IMS hydrophone triplet stations that constitute one of the longest running, globally operating underwater monitoring networks in the world. As all six stations have now been installed and fully certified to meet treaty requirements, operational focus continues to shift towards the long-term sustainment of the network and the improvement of data processing capabilities. At a high level, we here outline the technical approach to the planning of sustainment actions, which vary in extent and feasibility according to the functional part of the station, i.e., the hydrophone triplet, the underwater cable segment, and the onshore equipment that includes the Central Recording Facility. In addition, we present examples of preventive maintenance and corrective actions that can be taken to prolong a station’s operational lifetime and ensure data availability requirements are met.
Finally, we discuss some of the technical challenges, risks, and opportunities inherent to the long-term sustainment of the IMS hydrophone network.
In this presentation, we provide an overview of the status of the IMS hydrophone triplet stations that constitute one of the longest running, globally operating underwater monitoring networks in the world. As all six stations have now been installed and fully certified to meet treaty requirements, operational focus continues to shift towards the long-term sustainment of the network and the improvement of data processing capabilities. At a high level, we here outline the technical approach to the planning of sustainment actions, which vary in extent and feasibility according to the functional part of the station, i.e., the hydrophone triplet, the underwater cable segment, and the onshore equipment that includes the Central Recording Facility. In addition, we present examples of preventive maintenance and corrective actions that can be taken to prolong a station’s operational lifetime and ensure data availability requirements are met.
Finally, we discuss some of the technical challenges, risks, and opportunities inherent to the long-term sustainment of the IMS hydrophone network.