Geophysical Field Instrumentation for Undergraduate Teaching

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This project will utilize field geophysical instruments whose purpose will be to provide students experience with state-of-the-art field data collection, modeling and interpretation in undergraduate courses in geophysics, geology, hydrology, environmental science, and geography. Geophysical instrumentation has undergone a series of revolutionary improvements during the last decade. This technological advance has been paralleled by similar advances in computer-based data processing and modeling programs, and together they provide an unprecedented opportunity to address a wide spectrum of scientific problems of public and private concern with a sophistication not previously accessible. We are designing a new, expanded course program around the requested equipment. It includes modification of existing undergraduate exploration geophysics, seismology and summer field camp courses, and introduction of three new courses in geophysical instruments and digital signal processing, field geophysics, and a geophysics project design course. The planned, extended course offerings, in which these instruments will be essential, will fill the expanding needs of the Geological Sciences Department and the Environmental Studies program The goal of these improvements to our program is to provide undergraduate students in the above disciplines with opportunity to become skilled in application of noninvasive methods of subsurface investigation which pertain to their areas of study. The field instruments will include: a multichannel seismograph plus a small elastic wave generator, a total field magnetometer, a portable frequency-domain electromagnetic depth sounding system, and a ground penetrating radar system. When the instruments are not being used by the University of Oregon, we plan to make them available for undergraduate instruction at other schools within the state.