Steve's Steep Web Site -> Project Summary
Overview of 2005 Seismology effort
The total project consists of 22 new, telemetered, digital broad band seismic stations. There are xx existing short period stations in the area. Due to an Environmental Assessment required by Wrangell Saint Elias National Park, only stations located outside the park boundaries are planned to be installed in 2005.
(click for larger image)
The Steep South region. Existing short period stations are in green. The new Steep stations in red.
Bering Glacier Camp
The only place with year round AC power and commercial telecommunication in the area is Cape Yakataga. It was considered to be the prime location for telemetry collection but the large size and number of trees limit the view. Existing photographs and web cams were analyzed. Without a site visit and testing, it's impossible to evaluate the telemetry possibilities affirmatively.
The Bering Glacier Camp operated by the BLM and to be used as
the base of operations in 2005 is well situated logistically. It has an airstrip.
It was chosen to be a telemetry collection point but lacks a year round power
supply and commercial telecommunications.
Due to its low lying terrain and distance from commercial telecommunication, a terrestrial communication system was ruled out. A satellite VSAT system was chosen and tested. It was partially deployed in May 2005 but a lack of parts and adequate logistic support has delayed completion and commissioning until July. The transmitted seismic data are highly asymetric, that is, much goes out but little is received. This is complementary to most internet usage (i.e. more downloading than uploading), so some bandwidth might be available for the locals (camp residents) to check email and "surf the web". Uploading big data or picture files may not be possible.
The camp has a remotely telemetered weather station (RAWS). Data for a one year period were analyzed for solar and wind potential. A 12VDC power system consisting of 850 watts of solar panels and two 72 watt wind chargers with 2000 AH of battery storage was design to supply a continuous 3 amps of power to the telemetry system. The power plant was designed with adequate redundancy to operate with mulipule subsystem failures (bears and extreme weather are the most likely culprits). During the summer months, with all subsystems operational, an excess of 3.5kWh per day could be "sold" to the local community (camp).
In addition to the power and VSAT systems we plan to install a
local seismic station at the camp. It will provide seismic data, albiet from
a noisy enviroment. It is a good test bed and will provide a local spare parts
source should they be necesssary. The nearest hardware store, and FedEx man
are 60 miles away in Cordova and only accesible by chartered aircraft.
To aid in reception of the remote stations from the low-lying camp a 10 meter tall tower will be constructed. It will have a good view of the camp and airstrip. A web cam on the tower would allow better flight planning and..........
The solar panels are mounted on a frame called a "swing set". Click on the image below for detail. A pdf file is also available for download.
A local area network (LAN) will connect the various data sources to the VSAT modem. The VSAT only provides four static IP address, at least eight will be needed. This is a problem yet to be resolved. The most obvious solution is to add a router with it's additional power consumption. The VSAT communicates with satellite AMC4 located at 101W longitude. The downlink hub is located in Chicago. The public internet relays the data to the AEIC lab in Fairbanks.
Remote Stations
Overview of 2005 Seismology effort
The total project consists of 22 new, telemetered, digital broad band seismic stations. There are xx existing short period stations in the area. Due to an Environmental Assessment required by Wrangell Saint Elias National Park, only stations located outside the park boundaries are planned to be installed in 2005.
(click for larger image)
The Steep South region. Existing short period stations are in green. The new Steep stations in red.
Bering Glacier Camp
The only place with year round AC power and commercial telecommunication in the area is Cape Yakataga. It was considered to be the prime location for telemetry collection but the large size and number of trees limit the view. Existing photographs and web cams were analyzed. Without a site visit and testing, it's impossible to evaluate the telemetry possibilities affirmatively.
The Bering Glacier Camp operated by the BLM and to be used as
the base of operations in 2005 is well situated logistically. It has an airstrip.
It was chosen to be a telemetry collection point but lacks a year round power
supply and commercial telecommunications.Due to its low lying terrain and distance from commercial telecommunication, a terrestrial communication system was ruled out. A satellite VSAT system was chosen and tested. It was partially deployed in May 2005 but a lack of parts and adequate logistic support has delayed completion and commissioning until July. The transmitted seismic data are highly asymetric, that is, much goes out but little is received. This is complementary to most internet usage (i.e. more downloading than uploading), so some bandwidth might be available for the locals (camp residents) to check email and "surf the web". Uploading big data or picture files may not be possible.
The camp has a remotely telemetered weather station (RAWS). Data for a one year period were analyzed for solar and wind potential. A 12VDC power system consisting of 850 watts of solar panels and two 72 watt wind chargers with 2000 AH of battery storage was design to supply a continuous 3 amps of power to the telemetry system. The power plant was designed with adequate redundancy to operate with mulipule subsystem failures (bears and extreme weather are the most likely culprits). During the summer months, with all subsystems operational, an excess of 3.5kWh per day could be "sold" to the local community (camp).
In addition to the power and VSAT systems we plan to install a
local seismic station at the camp. It will provide seismic data, albiet from
a noisy enviroment. It is a good test bed and will provide a local spare parts
source should they be necesssary. The nearest hardware store, and FedEx man
are 60 miles away in Cordova and only accesible by chartered aircraft.To aid in reception of the remote stations from the low-lying camp a 10 meter tall tower will be constructed. It will have a good view of the camp and airstrip. A web cam on the tower would allow better flight planning and..........
The solar panels are mounted on a frame called a "swing set". Click on the image below for detail. A pdf file is also available for download.
The power system control consists of four 16 amp automatic
sequence chargers (ASC) by Speciality Concepts, Inc. , one for each pair
of solar panels, and two wind charger regulators. A fuse block for each input
is provided. The two battery banks and their respective charging systems
are isolated by Shottski diodes. A block diagram and system layout
are provided.
A local area network (LAN) will connect the various data sources to the VSAT modem. The VSAT only provides four static IP address, at least eight will be needed. This is a problem yet to be resolved. The most obvious solution is to add a router with it's additional power consumption. The VSAT communicates with satellite AMC4 located at 101W longitude. The downlink hub is located in Chicago. The public internet relays the data to the AEIC lab in Fairbanks.
Remote Stations
(click image for larger version)
Landsat-5 October 1987 image of the region. The Proposed 2005 Seismic Stations locations are shown.
(click image for larger version)
A Radio Horizon View of area from a 10m tower at Bering Glacier Camp.
Color indicates radio signal strength from Freewave Radio at 908-928 MHz with 12dbi omni antenna.
Geographic Coordinates of 2005 sites
| Code | Latitude | Longitude | Ele | date | distance from Bering Tower | |
| (deg) | (deg) | (m) | (ft) | ~km | ||
| Bering Tower | 60.12030 | -143.2841 | 18 | 59 | 5/17/05 | 0.0 |
| STEEP12 | 60.22701 | -143.0967 | 318 | 1043 | 5/17/05 | 15.8 |
| STEEP21A | 60.39200 | -143.5409 | 582 | 1909 | 5/17/05 | 33.4 |
| STEEP11A | 60.44212 | -143.2482 | 1036 | 3399 | 5/17/05 | 35.9 |
| STEEP13A | 60.28510 | -142.7001 | 614 | 2014 | 5/17/05 | 37.2 |
| STEEP20 | 60.23058 | -143.9758 | 486 | 1594 | 5/17/05 | 40.2 |
| STEEP10A | 60.55925 | -143.9377 | 1549 | 5082 | 5/17/05 | 60.7 |
| STEEP10 | 60.65094 | -143.6975 | 3239 | 10627 | 5/17/05 | 63.3 |
Bering Glacier Camp - STEEP12 - STEEP21A - STEEP11A - STEEP13A - STEEP20 - STEEP10A - STEEP10