Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

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U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Powell Center is offering funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research on “Fiber Optic Seismology for Earthquake Hazards Research, Monitoring and Early Warning.” The project will improve current efforts in earthquake science by incorporating advancements in fiber-optic seismology. The goal of this proposal is to advance the USGS, along with academic, industry, and agency partners, towards effective utilization of fiber-optic sensing techniques to understand earthquake hazards and to improve monitoring and real-time warning systems. The project will have two phases: Phase 1 will develop a strategic plan that identifies which aspects of the earthquake program have the highest likelihood of benefitting from fiber-optic technology and what types of concentrated efforts might improve hazard research and products. Investigators will identify technical requirements that instrumentation and/or data must meet to be useful. A second key goal of this phase will be to develop a database of dark fiber that is potentially accessible for planned scientific experiments and/or rapid hazard response such as aftershock monitoring. Phase 2 will demonstrate the improvements in forecasting capabilities for ongoing programs including Earthquake Early Warning, offshore fault characterization, urban geotechnical studies, monitoring induced seismicity, and earthquake source physics.