PyjAmaseis
An Application for Educational Seismology
Project Description
The Physics Department at University of Auckland are at the forefront of a world-wide outreach effort in educational seismology initiated by IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology). This program is called Seismometers in Schools. Schools have access to the TC1 educational seismometer, but have been dependent on third-party software to display, process and share earthquake signals with other schools online. The current options are educational packages such as Amaseis and jAmaseis, or other professional ones. These packages are not as robust, and they are too complicated for teachers and students. Therefore there is a necessity for an application that is easy to use coupled with all the core functionality present in Amaseis and jAmaseis.
Project Aim
The aim of this project is to develop a robust and user friendly application that can be easily used by teachers and students to engage with seismology data. The goal is to build a simple and intuitive python based application that will process, display and share earthquake signals with other schools online. The application aims to incorporate Obspy (seismic data processing suite in python) and Matplotlib (comprehensive 2D plotting library).
IRIS & RU
IRIS
IRIS (Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology) is a university research consortium dedicated to exploring the Earth's interior through the collection and distribution of seismographic data. IRIS programs contribute to scholarly research, education, earthquake hazard mitigation, and the verification of a Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Support for IRIS comes from the National Science Foundation, other federal agencies, universities, and private foundations.
IRIS's Seismographs in Schools Program serves teachers across the United States and around the world using seismic instruments or real-time seismic data in K-16 classrooms. Additionally, their site includes tools to share seismic data in real-time, classroom activities, and technical support documents for seismic instruments. Their hope is to bridge the gap between science classrooms to create an international educational seismic network.
RU
The Physics Department at Auckland are at the forefront of a world-wide outreach effort in educational seismology and are currently engaging in initiating schools into the Seismometers in Schools program around New Zealand. The New Zealand network of schools is named "RU" after the Maori God of Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
Ru uses a cheap, robust and easy-to-build seismometer – called the TC1 — to measure seismic displacements in the vertical direction. Assembling and running the system naturally introduces students to a number of concepts in physics and engineering, and hope that upon completion seismic recordings trigger discussions about the dynamics and internal structure of the Earth.
