Modernization of Existing Long-Base Strainmeters at Pinyon Flat and Durmid Hill

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Funds from this grant support modernization of the existing long-baseline laser strainmeters at Pinon Flat Observatory (PFO) and Durmid Hill (DH), California. New laser, vacuum, temperature hardware, and control-software components will be added to make these existing laser strainmeter instruments operate to the same standards as new instruments being installed as part of the Plate Boundary Observatory project. The upgrades will allow for onsite automation and remote diagnostic monitoring, eliminating the need for many onsite visits and therefore reducing long term operating and maintenance costs and improving data quality. PFO and DH laser strainmeters measure of time-dependent deformation along the Pacific/North-American plate boundary in southern California with extreme sensitivity and the upgraded instruments complement GPS, borehole and laser strainmeter instruments being installed as part of EarthScope/PBO in an effort to understand the dynamics of continental deformation and earthquake processes at an active plate margin. Raw data and data products from the upgraded instruments will be made freely accessible via the web. The long time series Data from PFO and DH provide a valuable baseline, against which new data from the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) can and will be compared.