This growth brings challenges in deployment, maintenance, and data management. Instrument management, including the lack of standards for nodal and DAS acquisitions, issues for calibration, synchronization, and maintenance of large numbers of sensors, requires streamlined processes and innovative approaches. The field operations for the installation, maintenance, and recovery of dense seismic arrays, often in remote or challenging environments, require smart solutions to maintain data quality and continuity while easing the logistical burden. Last but not least, managing the large volumes of data generated by these dense deployments necessitates efficient data handling, storage, processing, and analysis techniques (cloud computing, machine learning, etc.), alongside user-friendly tools and standardized protocols for metadata tracking and archiving.
We aim to split the session into two parts: a technical one where engineers and network operators have a space to show their latest work, and a scientific one where researchers will be able to showcase their latest results. Therefore, this session invites contributions addressing the operational, logistical, technical, and data management challenges associated with dense seismic arrays. We particularly welcome discussions on instrument comparisons, the development of practical tools for deployment strategies (such as QField or alternatives), or for instrument access (including how to access the European nodal pools and the DAS interrogators available for collaboration), data management, and metadata standardization (e.g., initiatives through ORFEUS, EPOS or European projects such as Geo-INQUIRE). Additionally, the session encourages submissions presenting innovative scientific and methodological developments, applications, and cutting-edge results, including imaging, array analysis, seismicity monitoring, derived from dense seismic networks and DAS deployments (or other distributed fiber-optic sensing methods) across all scales, from local to regional and global investigations.
Orals: Mon, 4 May, 16:15–18:00 | Room 0.51
In recent years, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) has emerged as a powerful technology in seismology, enabling the acquisition of high-resolution seismic data using optical fibers as sensors. As the number of DAS experiments continues to grow and DAS interrogators become able to record along ever longer fiber-optic cables, the volume of generated data is rapidly increasing, creating significant challenges for long-term archiving and efficient data access. These challenges include not only the storage of very large datasets—often on the order of hundreds of terabytes—but also the ability to fast random access and process subsets of the data.
Currently, the DAS ecosystem is dominated by proprietary data formats defined by individual vendors. While HDF5 is increasingly adopted as a more open alternative, it presents strong limitations regarding scalability in multi-threaded and multi-process environments. In contrast, modern data container formats such as Zarr and TileDB offer native support for parallel I/O and flexible storage backends, ranging from local file systems to on-premise and cloud-based object storage.
In this contribution, we present a comparative evaluation of these modern data formats for DAS applications, focusing on performance, scalability, and usability. We discuss the latest results obtained from the activities of the Geo-INQUIRE* project and assess the feasibility and potential benefits of their adoption for the long-term management and analysis of DAS datasets.
* Geo-INQUIRE is funded by the European Union (GA 101058518)
How to cite: Quinteros, J., Rodriguez Tribaldo, V., Wollin, C., and Strollo, A.: Modern Data Containers for Scalable Archiving and Access of Distributed Acoustic Sensing Data, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12779, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12779, 2026.
The Artius broadband node represents a transformative innovation in seismic instrumentation, designed to bridge the gap between traditional broadband seismometers and popular nodal systems. While broadband seismometers offer unparalleled sensitivity and frequency range, their cost and complexity often limit large-scale and dense deployments. Conversely, geophones provide cost-effective solutions for high-frequency applications but lack sensitivity to low-frequency seismic signals, which are critical for many research and monitoring purposes. Artius provides a cost-effective compromise, delivering the increased sensitivity and a true broadband frequency range at an economic price point.
Designed by Güralp Systems, Artius integrates a compact, highly sensitive broadband seismometer with an environmentally sealed anodised aluminium enclosure, ensuring optimal performance and robustness across diverse geophysical applications. Boasting a response of 30 seconds to 200 Hz, Artius greatly outperforms geophone-based systems while still being perfectly suited to rapid temporary deployments where it can be either pushed or staked into the ground and connected to an external power supply. Artius pushes the limits of versatility, facilitating real-time data monitoring, as well as passive data collection. Artius has an onboard SEEDlink server, compatible with all standard seismological monitoring techniques, truly setting it apart from anything on the current market.
Artius is designed to be docked into an eight-node capacity docking station for data validation and mass data download. The docking station also serves as a ‘huddle’ system for configuration and testing prior to deployment, ensuring each node is performing optimally. The Artius nodes are intended to be deployed in large arrays, perfect for passive seismology, ambient noise studies, and earthquake investigations.
How to cite: Calver, J., Lindsey, J., Kerkenyakova, A., Watkiss, N., Kitka, K., Hill, P., and Restelli, F.: Artius: A revolutionary broadband node to enable passive seismology, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-11433, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-11433, 2026.
Accurate horizontal orientation of three-component seismic sensors remains a persistent weakness in field deployments, despite its direct impact on modern seismological observables and advanced processing methods. While orientation is routinely performed using magnetic compasses for practicality, the effective accuracy achieved in the field is often insufficient and leads to systematic errors that propagate into receiver functions, amplitude and polarization analyses, propagation direction estimates, waveform separation, and moment tensor inversion. Large-scale surveys of permanent and temporary networks report frequent misorientations at the multi-degree level, with a worldwide dispersion typically on the order of several degrees, and a significant fraction of stations exhibiting errors well above 4–10°.
This contribution reviews current practices used to transfer the North direction to seismic stations, with emphasis on the real causes of misorientation in operational conditions: magnetic declination handling (including temporal drift of the magnetic pole), local magnetic disturbances (geology, infrastructure, reinforced concrete, metallic objects, and even the station itself), and the intrinsic limitations of visual alignment and reference transfer. Post-installation orientation estimation techniques, although valuable, often remain an additional and fragile processing step, not consistently preserved as station metadata and not always correctly exploited by end users.
A specific focus is placed on the orientation accuracy required to enable reliable array-derived rotation (ADR), which explicitly links field alignment to scientific performance. Building on published uncertainty analyses, we highlight that station misalignment is among the dominant contributors to ADR uncertainty, and that replacing magnetic compasses by gyrocompass-based procedures can reduce uncertainty by about one order of magnitude while extending the usable wavelength band toward longer periods—thereby unlocking higher-value array analyses.
To address this gap between scientific needs and field reality, we introduce the NJORD product line, designed specifically for seismic station orientation, from cost-effective solutions to higher-performance instruments compatible with static deployments and field. Among these, the Årian true-north finder is a compact, handheld static optical gyrocompass enabling rapid operation (alignment time < 4 minutes), one-day field autonomy, and an export-free approach requiring no aiding sensors (no GNSS, no magnetics), with a stated heading performance of 0.9° seclat RMS.
Årian is intented to shift field-deployment practice, enabling high-quality station orientation to become routine rather than exceptional, improving both data quality and operational efficiency at network scale.
How to cite: Guattari, F., Bercy, A., Gaillot, A., Ponceau, D., and Leray, V.: Orientation to True North for Seismic Stations: Review of Field Practices and New Instruments to Improve Accuracy and Operational Efficiency, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22593, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22593, 2026.
Large earthquakes involve processes that occur primarily at seismogenic depths of 5-10 km or more and that are thus difficult to observe in detail with traditional seismic networks. The FaultScan project establishes the first long-term, dense nodal array experiment by acquiring continuous data at 300 stations along the San Jacinto Fault (SJF, South California) at the Piñon Flat Observatory for 2.5 years (April 2022-Nov. 2024).
We report on the experiment logistics, data quality and describe the characteristics of the High-Frequency (HF, >1 Hz) back-ground noise with a focus on incoherent wind generated noise, train traffic tremors and far distant coherent urban noise. We illustrate how these HF coherent noise sources recorded mostly as body-waves can be used to track velocity changes across the SJF by applying seismic interferometry between the array and nearby permanent seismic stations.
We further describe how much slant-stacking increases the level of signal to noise ratio for the detection of small earthquakes along the San Jacinto Fault and show how newly detected events improve our description of foreshock/aftershock patterns. Our search for tectonic tremors along the San Jacinto Fault turns up empty but we observe tremor-like signals, mostly T-phases coming exclusively from the Tonga subduction and one intriguing T-phase like sequence originating from the October 2023, offshore Japan volcanic crisis.
How to cite: Brenguier, F., Higueret, Q., Mordret, A., Sheng, Y., Vernon, F., Hollis, D., Aubert, C., Pinzon-ricon, L., Vignon-livache, M., Lavoué, F., Capes, C., Pineda, M., Hobkirk, C., Kakiuchi, Y., and Ben-zion, Y.: The FaultScan Long-Term Dense Nodal Array to Study the San Jacinto Fault (Southern California), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12341, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12341, 2026.
Accelerating mass loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet is strongly modulated by meltwater-driven changes of bed conditions in ice dynamics, but these processes remain poorly constrained due to limited high-resolution observations of glacier hydrological systems. Constraints on basal properties can be obtained from borehole measurements and active reflection seismic surveys; however, these methods are inherently limited by their localized spatial coverage and are time intensive. As a result, they are poorly suited to monitoring the subglacial hydrological system, which evolves over seasonal timescales and across spatial scales larger than can be practically sampled. Thus, dense seismic node arrays offer a powerful alternative, enabling passive, high-resolution imaging and continuous monitoring of englacial and subglacial processes over broad areas and extended time periods.
Here, we first present a dense seismic array experiment covering approximately 2.5 km² we conducted in the ablation zone of Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland. The experiment comprised 82–117 autonomous seismic nodes deployed during one-month long monitoring periods in spring 2023 and in summer and fall 2024, complemented by multi-week surface Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) measurements conducted in 2024. We assess data quality using power spectral densities and ambient noise cross-correlations to detect sensor tilt and GPS timing desynchronization, which are critical issues for data quality in remote and highly dynamical glacial environments such as the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Then, we demonstrate we can use natural icequakes to perform seismic reflection analysis for bed mapping and interface property evaluation. We locate numerous natural seismic events with meter-scale resolution using Matched Field Processing (MFP) beamforming applied to array data in the 4–6 Hz frequency band. These events reveal a large population of near-surface sources associated with crevassing that generate both surface and body waves. We extract body waves and enable event stacking following a two-step synchronization procedure first synchronizing signals in the 4–6 Hz band dominated by surface waves, and subsequently refining timing in the 40–80 Hz band where P waves dominate. By sorting and stacking waveforms from these synchronized natural sources into common midpoint gathers, we identify high signal-to-noise ratio reflected P waves from the ice–bedrock interface at offsets of up to 1 km, significantly greater than those typically achieved in traditional active reflection seismic surveys on glaciers. This extended offset range makes the passive approach better suited for estimating basal conditions using classical amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) analyses due to the stronger dependence of reflectivity to bed properties at large incidence angles.
Finally, following a workflow analogous to active reflection seismology, we derive a two-dimensional map of ice thickness beneath the array with a vertical resolution of approximately 15 m, comparable to that of conventional active surveys. This ice-thickness model will serve as a critical constraint for future high-resolution surface-wave tomography, enabling improved imaging of glacier structure and basal conditions at depth.
How to cite: Paris, N., Gimbert, F., Roux, P., Livingstone, S. J., Doyle, S. H., Michel, A., Sole, A. J., Lecointre, A., Pinzon-Rincon, L., Hillers, G., Courbis, R., and Barruol, G. and the SLIDE-REASSESS team: High-Resolution Glacier Bed Imaging with Passive Seismology Using a Novel Dense Seismic Array at Isunnguata Sermia, West Greenland, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-10595, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-10595, 2026.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) based on fibre-optic technology is increasingly used in seismic monitoring and subsurface imaging, thanks to its dense spatial sampling, robustness, and operational flexibility. Despite its growing adoption, a detailed comparison with conventional borehole seismic sensors under controlled conditions remains essential to better understand the respective strengths, limitations, and complementarities of the two technologies.
This study presents a controlled Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) experiment carried out in the PITOP2 well at the PITOP geophysical testing site1, operated by OGS and part of the ECCSEL-ERIC facilities2. The experiment was performed within a Transnational Access framework funded by the Geo-INQUIRE project3. The acquisition was specifically designed to compare the seismic response of a non-permanent deployment of a borehole DAS fibre-optic cable with that of a co-located cemented array of three-component borehole geophones.
The seismic source consisted of a Vibroseis Minivib operating in P-mode, with three surface energization points located at offsets of 25, 50, and 75 m from the well. The DAS measurements were acquired using two different interrogators (Silixa iDAS and Carina®), enabling the assessment of DAS response consistency across interrogation systems. The borehole DAS cable and the Carina® interrogator were purchased thanks to PNRR ITINERIS4 funding.
The experiment benefits from the well-characterized subsurface conditions and permanent infrastructure available at PITOP, minimizing geological uncertainties and allowing the focus to be placed on instrumental and acquisition-related effects.
The results of this study enabled to draw technical and scientific evaluations on the experimental design, acquisition parameters and comparison strategy, outlining the analysis of waveform characteristics, frequency content, signal-to-noise ratio, and depth-dependent response.
All datasets of this experiment are openly available in SEG-Y format through the PITOP data portal1, in compliance with FAIR data principles, supporting transparency, reproducibility, and reuse by the scientific and industrial communities
The experiment builds upon previous geophysical investigations conducted at PITOP, as summarized in the recent publication “Geophysical exploration case histories at the PITOP geophysical test site – A key facility in the ECCSEL-ERIC consortium”5, further demonstrating the role of PITOP as a reference facility for testing emerging seismic technologies.
Acknowledgements:
Geo-INQUIRE is funded by the European Commission under project number 101058518 within the HORIZON-INFRA-2021-SERV-01 call.
ECCSEL ERIC was established by the European Commission implementing decision of 9 June 2017 (EU) 2017/996.
References:
- OGS PITOP website: pitop.ogs.it - Transnational Access, SeisDAS Project 2025, EXP1, DOI: 10.13120/0DTM-JX93)
- ECCSEL ERIC PITOP page: https://eccsel.eu/catalogue/facility/?id=126
- Geo-INQUIRE website: https://www.geo-inquire.eu/
- EU - Next Generation EU Mission 4, Component 2 - CUP B53C22002150006 - Project IR0000032 – ITINERIS - Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System
- Geophysical exploration case histories at the PITOP geophysical test site – A key facility in the ECCSEL-ERIC consortium: an overview. Bellezza et al., Bulletin of Geophysics and Oceanography, 2025
How to cite: Travan, A., Meneghini, F., Bellezza, C., Lucerna, L., Bernardi, P., Barison, E., and Schleifer, A.: Comparison of borehole seismic recordings from Distributed Acoustic Sensing and conventional 3C geophones: a VSP experiment at the PITOP testing site (OGS-ECCSEL), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-7458, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7458, 2026.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) has emerged as a promising technology for large-scale, passive monitoring of acoustic sources in the marine environment. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using DAS to track and localize surface vessels based on their continuously emitted signals. Ship-generated acoustic signals span a wide frequency range and are often characterized by periodic or quasi-periodic narrowband tonal components. Depending on the coupling conditions of the fiber cable, these signals may exhibit limited spatial coherence across the DAS array thereby reducing the reliability of conventional localization techniques, such as time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) approaches. To address these challenges, we apply a combination of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement techniques and coherent signal processing methods to optimize signals. We further implement different localization techniques to assess their limitations and strengths.
To quantitatively assess the performance of the proposed methods, DAS-based localization results are fused and compared with Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. This enables evaluation of localization accuracy, tracking consistency, and uncertainty as a function of vessel range, signal strength, and environmental conditions. By quantifying these limitations and associated uncertainties, this study provides practical insight into the operational capabilities and constraints of DAS for maritime surveillance and monitoring applications.
How to cite: Bülow Pedersen, H., Heiselberg, H., Bostani Nezhad, K., Heiselberg, P., and Aalling Sørensen, K.: Localization and Tracking of Incoherent Ship Signals Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19172, 2026.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is a novel earth observation. Existing telecommunication cables, named dark fiber, are usually utilized as part of DAS network. Due to its inherent feature, high-frequency ambient motion is recorded along the length of the fiber optic cable for long distances. Since the dark fiber cables were placed without given care certain issues namely ground coupling, the data acquired are excessively noisy compared to the conventional sensors particularly on land. However, the cables lay on the ocean bottom prone to less urban noise source. On the other hand, tha traces from the the marine traffic and water ocean motions are apparen in the DAS time series. This study exhibits the potential of DAS data in monitoring the marine traffic near the shoreline in addition to earth observations. A fiber optic cable with NEC interrogator has been studying since May 2024. A long term data in marine traffic with regular and irregular events were significantly emerged from the huge data with proper detection techniques.
How to cite: Dindar, A. A., Tunç, S., Kato, A., Özel, N. M., Ergün, T., Zhang, J., and Kaneda, Y.: Utilizing DAS data in Earth Observation and Marine Traffic Monitoring, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21518, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21518, 2026.
Posters on site: Tue, 5 May, 08:30–10:15 | Hall X1
The French Massif Central (FMC) hosts a complex intraplate volcanic system that is probably influenced by deep mantle processes, Variscan inheritance, and Cenozoic rifting. To better understand the crustal and mantle structures of the FMC, a consortium of 4 French laboratories – ISTerre Grenoble, LMV Clermont-Ferrand, GET & IRAP Toulouse – has set up the MACIV project (2023–2027) based on multiscale seismic experiments combining regional-scale and dense local deployments. The regional scale is covered by 2 temporary networks of 100 broadband stations spanning the whole FMC for a duration of 3–4 years. The large-scale XP array of 35 stations complements the permanent networks to achieve homogeneous coverage with ~35 km spacing. It is France’s contribution to the European AdriaArray project. The XF network of 65 stations includes 3 quasi-linear profiles (N–S, E–W, NW–SE) that cross major volcanic areas and Variscan structures with inter-station spacing of 5–20 km.
In September 2025, the broadband arrays were supplemented by a month-long deployment of 2 dense arrays of 624 three-component short-period nodes (5 Hz) across an 80 km x 100 km area. The instruments were deployed in two nested networks : an ultra-dense network (inter-station distance 0.5–1.5 km) on an aperiodic grid covering the recent volcanoes of Chaîne des Puys and Mont-Dore/Sancy massif, and a larger-scale regular grid network (inter-station distance 3.5–7 km).
All MACIV data are or will be distributed by SI-S EPOS-France. Waveforms of the XP array are openly available in real-time since the acquisition started in 2023. XF and nodal data will be publicly available after July 1, 2026.
We will present an overview of the project objectives, the experimental setup designed to optimize performance and cost efficiency, as well as the innovative tools developed for dense network deployment, the data acquisition strategy, and preliminary results.
How to cite: Aubert, C., Scheiblin, G., Chevrot, S., Cluzel, N., Mordret, A., Pauchet, H., Paul, A., Roussel, S., Shapiro, N., Souriot, T., and Sylvander, M. and the MACIV-NODES Team: Probing lithosphere and volcanoes of the French Massif Central using multiscale seismic experiments: the MACIV project, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-7345, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7345, 2026.
The Norwegian Caledonides are well mapped at the surface, but their depth extent and subsurface geometry are poorly known. Renewed interest in mineral occurrences within the Caledonian nappes comes with the need to better understand the three-dimensional geometry of mineral bearing units and their tectonic history. A recurring discussion entails whether the nappe stack in central Norway forms a synclinal or anticlinal geometry.
To address these questions, we conducted an ambient noise tomography (ANT) survey aimed at imaging the 3D subsurface structure of the Caledonian nappes in central Norway. ANT provides a comparatively inexpensive and flexible method to investigate crustal structure, allowing us to distinguish high-velocity mineral bearing units from surrounding lower-velocity metasedimentary layers as well as the topography of the underlying crystalline basement.
The survey was carried out in October 2025 over a three-week period and involved the deployment of 300 vertical component Sercel DFU seismic accelerometer nodes. A 3D-array of ca. 15x20 km, with about 0,6-1 km inter-station spacing was supplemented with a NW-SE trending profile of 30 nodes. The fieldwork in the rugged subarctic terrain was carried out by 3-4 teams of 2 people for the installation and retrieval of the array, for 5-6 days for each operation. About a third of the array was deployed by car along gravel roads, the rest was deployed either by e-bikes along large hiking and tractor trails or on foot for small hiking trails and off-trail sites. The planning and identification of the site access modes was paramount for the efficiency of the deployment. We used the Google Earth phone app as field deployment tool to automatically build the metadata of the array based on geo-localized pictures of the nodes and their serial numbers in the field, aided by an Optical Character Recognition algorithm.
While the 2D profile cannot resolve lateral structures, its full extension and orientation toward the north-west and thereby toward the main ambient seismic noise sources of the North Atlantic should allow us to resolve the velocity contrast between basement and nappes and the nature of their geometry.
We present the first results from both the 3D array and the 2D profile, providing new constraints on the depth extent and internal structure of the Caledonian nappes and contributing to the ongoing discussion of their subsurface geometry.
How to cite: Gradmann, S., Mordret, A., Saalmann, K., Bredemeier, B., Flem, B., Nesgaard, A., Fauskanger, A., Yanev, M., Moe, A., and Kvithyll Eriksen, J.: Studying the Norwegian Caledonides with ambient noise tomography: fieldwork lessons and preliminary results, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12768, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12768, 2026.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing is a transformative technology rapidly advancing in seismology. It enables recording high-resolution seismic data in remote areas and is especially beneficial for seafloor sensing, where standard seismic instruments are complex to operate in real time.
Over the past two years, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has conducted continuous and campaign-based Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) acquisitions on terrestrial and submarine fiber-optic cables, exploring the potential of DAS as a complement to the national seismic monitoring infrastructure. Using two ASN C-band interrogators deployed in both permanent and mobile configurations, GEUS has collected tens of TB of DAS data, with applications ranging from earthquake monitoring and onshore active seismic experiments to the detection of anthropogenic and marine activities.
This exploration constitutes a steep learning curve for GEUS in field logistics (how to access dark fibers, how to trench our own fibers, ...), as well as in data acquisition, processing, and archiving. Here, we present lessons learned along the way from fieldwork operations and observations of regional and teleseismic earthquakes, quarry blasts, submarine explosions, controlled naval experiments, active seismic tests, and so on.
Regional earthquakes recorded on submarine cables demonstrate DAS's sensitivity to S-waves even when P-wave signal-to-noise ratios are low. In contrast, teleseismic events (e.g., the M6.5 Jan Mayen earthquake) reveal complex wavefields that are strongly modulated by bathymetry and sedimentary structures. Comparative analyses across multiple cables highlight significant variations in signal quality and frequency content linked to cable type, installation conditions, and seafloor environment. Automatic phase picking using PhaseNet shows promising results, particularly when combining multiple pre-trained models, but also exposes key limitations related to strain-rate measurements, coupling variability, and absolute timing errors caused by the lack of GPS synchronization. Anthropogenic signals, including quarry blasts, anchor drops, vessel traffic, and rare submarine passages offshore, and active and passive seismic acquisition onshore, illustrate both the detection capabilities and the sensitivity to acquisition parameters.
Overall, this two-year dataset demonstrates that DAS can significantly enhance seismic and environmental monitoring, while also identifying critical technical challenges, data volume management, timing accuracy, and site-dependent coupling that must be addressed before DAS can be fully integrated into our operational seismological workflows.
How to cite: Mordret, A., Fønss Jensen, E., Larsen, T., Voss, P., Dahl-Jensen, T., Rinds, N., and Sólheim, L.: Two years of DAS acquisitions at GEUS, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12427, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12427, 2026.
In addition to permanent geophysical observation networks, temporary field measurements are an important component of solid Earth research. In seismology in particular, there has been a steady increase in the number of measuring devices used within one deployment. This is mainly due to the fact that dense networks (as opposed to individual stations with large distances between them) allow wave fields to be recorded in their entirety enabling new processing methods and higher-resolution subsurface imaging.
Since the maintenance of such large numbers of devices required for dense networks is not a side issue, instrument pools are necessary to supply devices for the academic community. One of the largest instrument pools in Europe is the Geophysical Instrument Pool Potsdam (GIPP), which is operated by the GFZ (gipp.gfz.de). The GIPP provides geophysical and geodetic measurement technology (e.g., recorders and sensors) for temporary active seismic, passive seismological, electromagnetic, and GNSS experiments. The equipment is supplied for usage at universities and research institutes worldwide and free of charge for non-commercial experiments. We team up with our partners in Europe through the ORFEUS Mobile Pools Service Management Committee. Together we are working on improving the cooperation between the major European instrument pools and offering services that facilitate access to instruments, also within the EPOS-ON project.
Over the past 30 years, we have supported more than 500 geophysical field experiments. The data of these experiments is archived at GFZ and is made available to the public, e.g., via the GEOFON repository. The majority of the seismological experiments consists of fewer than 50 stations, but the number of large networks (with up to 500 devices) is increasing. These large networks are realized either in the form of rolling arrays or as temporary installations (LARGE-N), sometimes in collaboration with other providers.
In this presentation, we give an overview of the latest deployments, our data management approach, the challenges that we are facing due to the high demand of LARGE-N experiments, and technological advances in our equipment, particularly in robust node-type field recorders. Thereby, we want to discuss the challenges and potentials of such pools, making them best setup for future research.
How to cite: Wawerzinek, B., Haberland, C., Ritter, O., Männel, B., and Krawczyk, C. M.: Geophysical Instrument Pool Potsdam (GIPP): Enabling large-scale seismic projects for 30 years – experiences and challenges, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-18050, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-18050, 2026.
The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) has recently expanded and modernised its land seismic equipment portfolio to support high-resolution seismic imaging and monitoring for research, public-sector tasks, and industry collaboration. This contribution presents the current land seismic capabilities at GEUS, acquired during late 2023 and early 2024, and highlights their applicability across a broad range of near-surface and crustal-scale investigations.
The source capability is centred on two modern vibroseis trucks (INOVA UV2), providing peak forces of up to 115 kN and a broad operational frequency range from below 1 Hz to 400 Hz. The units comply with EU Stage V emission standards, enabling environmentally responsible seismic acquisition in both urban and rural settings. Their flexibility makes them suitable for applications ranging from high-resolution near-surface surveys to deeper structural imaging and monitoring.
On the receiver side, GEUS operates an extensive wireless nodal system comprising 1200 Sercel WING digital field units equipped with one-component MEMS accelerometers. The system offers high timing accuracy via GPS synchronisation, bandwidth up to 400 Hz, and long battery autonomy (up to 50 days), allowing efficient large-scale 2D and 3D deployments as well as long-term passive or active monitoring campaigns. Additional sensors can be leased to further upscale acquisition geometries when required.
For rapid, high-resolution profiling, GEUS also maintains a 200 m landstreamer system (SeisMove) equipped with 100 three-component MEMS sensors at 2 m spacing. With bandwidths up to 800 Hz and sub-millisecond sampling options, this system is particularly well-suited for urban surveys, infrastructure studies, and near-surface characterisation where speed and data quality are critical.
These nodal capabilities are complemented by two ASN OptoDAS C01-S Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) interrogators, enabling the use of standard fibre-optic cables as dense, multi-kilometre seismic sensor arrays. The DAS systems significantly extend the receiver portfolio by allowing rapid deployment on existing dark fibers, ultra-dense spatial sampling, and continuous monitoring. They are particularly well-suited for infrastructure monitoring, near-surface studies, and emerging applications in geothermal energy and CO₂ storage surveillance. GEUS also possesses 4 km of its own armoured fiber-optic cable with 4 individual 9/125 μ single-mode OS1-grade fibers for local, high-signal-to-noise ratio deployments.
Together, these complementary systems position GEUS to deliver state-of-the-art land seismic imaging and monitoring solutions, supporting research in seismicity monitoring, groundwater, geohazards, infrastructure, geothermal energy, and CO₂ storage, as well as national and international collaborative projects.
How to cite: Keiding, M., Sólheim, L., Mordret, A., Voss, P., Fønss Jensen, E., Larsen, T., Dahl-Jensen, T., and Rinds, N.: Land-seismic capabilities at GEUS, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-23075, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-23075, 2026.
We report on the operations and organizational structure of the mobile Finnish seismic instrument pool FINNSIP (https://finnsip.fi) that is jointly owned and operated by five Finnish academic and research institutions. The pool infrastructure was funded by the Research Council of Finland through the FLEX-EPOS project under the FIN-EPOS umbrella. Funding supported the build-up phase from 2021 to 2024, after which the pool continues operating as a national research infrastructure.
The seismic instrumentation includes 46 Güralp broadband seismometers, 4 Güralp accelerometers, 1166 Geospace three-component short-period geophones-digitizers pairs, 71 SmartSolo self-contained three-component short-period geophone units, and 50 Geospace digitizers with cellular connection. This makes it probably the largest coherent mobile seismic instrument pool in Europe in the public sector. Instrument pools, when coupled with efficient data storage and transmission and powerful computing resources, provide strong support for research activities of various institutions. The mobile Finnish seismic instrument pool actively engages with ORFEUS/EIDA and the Geo-INQUIRE project, contributing to the development of community solutions for data discovery and accessibility. Nevertheless, even in developed countries, it remains challenging for a single institution to acquire and maintain a sufficiently large mobile pool of instruments and ensure sustainable data production and distribution. Here we report on the pool’s governance structure, project management, and the challenges encountered in the daily operations. We discuss example of domestic and international collaborative projects of temporary deployments to enhance data-driven subsurface and environmental applications. We report statistics of deployments for active or passive experiments that can range from a few days up to a few years. Over the past 5 years, the pool has supported more than 40 projects and generated more than 110 TB of raw and curated data. Short-period sensors are used in most projects, and a quarter involves deployments of more than 500 nodes, highlighting the demand and interest in large-number nodal deployments.
How to cite: Hillers, G., Courbis, R., Heinonen, S., Luhta, T., Mäkinen, J., Kozlovskaya, E., Moisi, K., Leveinen, J., Ding, Y., Komminaho, K., Oksanen, T., and Vänskä, J.: Operations and Organization of the Mobile Finnish Seismic Instrument Pool FINNSIP, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-23154, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-23154, 2026.
Posters virtual: Tue, 5 May, 14:00–18:00 | vPoster spot 1b
EGU26-16937 | Posters virtual | VPS24
3D SH-wave Velocity Tomography via Direct Inversion of Multimode Love Wave Dispersion Curves from Seismic SubarraysTue, 05 May, 14:06–14:09 (CEST) vPoster spot 1b