9C (2018-2018): Seismometer to Investigate Ice and Ocean Structure (SIIOS) Field Experiment: Greenland

• University of Maryland (UMD), United States of America

To investigate the viability of a seismic experiment on an Ocean Worlds lander mission, we are undertaking a series of analog field studies to develop operational techniques and quantify the science return of a Seismometer to Investigate Ice and Ocean Structure (SIIOS). Specifically, we aim to achieve the following objectives: 1) Demonstrate the ability of a small aperture seismic arrays in a “lander-like” configuration to discriminate between ice/ocean/bedrock layers in Earth's cryosphere, and record the influence of diurnal motion, as an analog to Ocean Worlds. 2) Demonstrate the improved resolution of a small aperture array over a single instrument for the detection and location of passive seismicity and noise sources in an Ocean Worlds analog environment. 3) Develop protocols and requirements for spacecraft onboard generation of data products that preserve science results while also being compatible with data downlink limitations typical for missions deployed in the outer solar system. 4) Determine the most effective types of passive seismic sources (e.g., ice cracking) for measuring ice and liquid water structure. This is the second field campaign and will take place on the Greenland ice sheet, ~45 km north of Qaanaaq airport in the location of a subglacial lake. This location has higher fidelity than the Gulkana glacier experiment to a Europa analog environment. The Greenland field exercise site installation will begin in mid-May 2018 and leave instruments deployed over the summer on the ice sheet. We will be using a combination of PASSCAL equipment and Silicon Audio instruments which should be able to interface with Reftek-130 data loggers. Each of the stations will be collocated in a short aperture array of approximately 3 meters radius. At the center of the array we will deploy a short period and broadband station. Each arm of the array will have a Silicon Audio seismometer deployed alongside a 3-component geophone. The short aperture array will be supplemented by 4 stations located at least a 1 km from the central lander like configuration.

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