RLAEC

Radio Link for Alaska Earthquake Center

15 July 2024 - 15 July 2028

Lead Scientist: Telayna Wong

Observatory: NSA (North Slope of Alaska)

The Alaska Earthquake Center operates two critical seismic/meteorological/infrasound stations east of Utqiagvik—A22K (Sinclair Lake) and B22K (Teshekpuk Lake). These stations, initially established under the USArray project, contribute valuable data to both the National Mesonet network and the Alaska Earthquake Center's permanent seismic monitoring network.

The stations are equipped with high-quality broadband seismographs for earthquake monitoring, weather stations measuring standard meteorological variables (temperature, humidity, precipitation, pressure, and wind), and soil temperature probes. Presently, data transmission relies on Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminals, which are financially burdensome and drain the power supplies of these remote stations, especially during the harsh winter months. Using a radio link at the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) C1 site to communicate with the A22K and B22K stations should allow for continuous, real-time data acquisition year-round.

The NSA C1 site already supports the Alaska Earthquake Center network by providing internet connection and power to their A21K station located near the autosonde launcher.

Links for more information on each station:
A22K - https://earthquake.alaska.edu/stations/A22K
B22K - https://earthquake.alaska.edu/stations/B22K

We hope through this collaboration to increase access to the Alaska Earthquake Center/Mesonet data, as well as to ensure more reliability of the stations by reducing electrical load and relying on radio communications.