Network Information

You can check the status of currently operating SCEPP Stations!

Architecture

SCEPP makes use of a wide variety of open source, free, free for noncommercial software, and custom applications in order to deliver data and provide display and analysis tools. The software the we have written is based on the FISSURES framework from the Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology (IRIS) Consortium and is all in Java. All communication takes place via CORBA using the free-for-noncommercial CORBA ORB from Orbacus. Our data acquisition system runs on older PCs making use of Linux. The database is PostgreSQL, a high quality, free, open source database system. We use the Network Time Protocol, NTP, for time synchronization. An overview diagram of the system can be found here.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation being used for the SCEPP project consists of a seismometer, a digitizer, and a computer. The seismometer is broadband, meaning it is sensitive to a wide range of frequencies, and 3 component, meaning that it records motion in all three dimensions. The seismometer outputs voltages on three wires, one for each component, and the voltage changes on each wire as the earth moves. The digitizer samples the voltages and turns the voltages into numbers. It is a 4 channel system, meaning it can handle 4 separate inputs simultaneously, although we will normally only use 3 and 24-bit, meaning that it has very fine resolution.

The output of the digitizer is read in by the computer, which stores the data on its disk. In addition, the software that we are writing allows it to automatically forward the data to a central server at USC. Also, the computer can be contacted remotely from the server at USC to change configurations or to re-retrieve data. Lastly, SCEPP staff will be able to remotely upgrade the software, eliminating the need for the teacher to do any administration. Because of the automatic uploading of data and remote software upgrades, it is very important that the SCEPP computer at the school have a good connection to the internet. The internet coordinators at the schools play a very important part in the success of SCEPP so we have additional information available for them.

Sponsors

SCEPP is funded by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education through their Centers of Excellence program. CHE funding is matched by the USC Department of Geological Sciences and the USC College of Science and Mathematics. The project has been running since August of 1999 and continues to be supported through USC. The SCEPP Data Center consists of a Sun Microsystems E450 server, donated by Sun in the summer of 1999 through their Academic Equipment Grant program. Each school district that hosts a SCEPP seismometer provides assistance in preparing the site for our system and making the appropriate changes to their Internet configuration.

Problem Reporting

To report a problem, simply email Tom Owens , Philip Crotwell , or Katrina Byerly .