EAGER: Collaborative Research: Shallow Cased Drilling Capabilities in Extreme Environments

非技术摘要地震学是研究地震、火山和许多其他震源引起的地球振动的学科。为了更好地了解这些振动，地震学家在精心控制的环境中安装了高灵敏度的设备(地震仪)，以记录尽可能小的信号，提供更高质量的数据进行分析。就像在一组不好的扬声器上听音乐可以消除特定歌曲的细微差别一样，噪音较大的设备中的地震仪无法检测到火山信号的细微差别。随着这些实验越来越接近实际的震源(火山)，环境变得更难控制，导致数据更嘈杂，信号更少。因此，地震学家努力改进这些困难地点的地震仪安装，以改善记录的数据，从而提高对火山如何工作的理解，以及如何更好地理解它构成的风险。该项目将寻求通过开发一种小型的、可携带直升机的钻机，在非常极端的环境中极大地改善地震仪的安装，这种钻机可以飞行到非常高的高度，并可以在非常低的温度下操作。这种新钻探能力的测试目标将在南极洲埃里伯斯山的山顶，这座火山是地球上最南端的活火山，距离美国在南极最大的研究基地麦克默多站不到25英里。在该项目结束时，研究人员将有能力在世界上任何地方安装高质量的地震仪，几乎在任何环境中。技术摘要该项目包括开发和概念验证新技术，以便在高海拔(3000米以上)和极端寒冷的地区(如高火山和/或山脉/极地地区)的各种岩石条件下安装地震式传感器。特别是，我们建议开发一种直升机便携式钻井系统，该系统可以钻取长达15.25厘米的套管和灌浆的垂直后井，适用于高性能宽带地震传感器或其他仪器。建议通过钻探埃里伯斯山火山山顶附近的五个地点和南极洲罗斯岛周围的三个地点来充分展示这一能力，以促进安装新的埃里巴斯地震和次声网络。根据该奖项开发的能力将对其他地区和地区的地球物理和更一般的地球科学调查有用。该系统的便携性与其在极端环境中运行的能力相结合，确保了它将非常适合在世界各地的不同条件下运行。这种能力将使收集新类型和更高质量的数据成为可能，以促进科学进步。通过在设计阶段引入一个广泛和有经验的团队，我们希望从集体专业知识和知识共享中受益，并确保我们开发的设计和解决方案在最终产品中得到有效实施，从而使地球科学界广泛受益。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-Technical AbstractSeismology is the study of vibrations in the earth that result from earthquakes, volcanoes, and many other seismic sources. To better understand these vibrations, seismologists install highly sensitive equipment (seismometers) in carefully controlled environments to record the smallest possible signals providing higher quality data to analyze. Like listening to music on a bad set of speakers can remove the nuances of the particular song, seismometers in noisy installations cannot detect the nuances of say signals from a volcano. As these experiments move closer to the actual source (volcano) the environment gets more difficult to control, resulting in noisier data and less signal. Therefore, seismologists strive to improve the installations of seismometers in these difficult locations to improve the data recorded, and thus, improve the understanding of how, in this case a volcano, works and how better to understand the risks it poses. This project will seek to vastly improve seismometer installations in very extreme environments by developing a small, helicopter-portable drilling rig that can be flown to very high altitudes and be operated in very low temperatures. The target for the testing of this new drilling capability will be at the summit of Mt Erebus, Antarctica the southernmost active volcano on Earth and one that is less than 25 miles from the United States largest research base in Antarctica McMurdo Station. At the conclusion of this project, the researchers will have the capability to install high quality, posthole-style seismometers anywhere in the world in nearly any environment.Technical AbstractThis project consists of the development and proof-of-concept demonstration of new technology to install posthole-style seismic sensors in varied rock conditions at high altitude (above 3,000 m) and extremely cold locations, such as high volcanoes and/or mountain/polar regions. In particular, we propose to develop a helicopter-portable drilling system that can drill up to 15.25 cm cased and grouted, vertical postholes suitable for high-performance broadband seismic sensors or other instrumentation. A full demonstration of this capability is proposed by drilling five sites near the summit of Mt Erebus volcano and three sites around the perimeter of Ross Island, Antarctica to facilitate the installation of a new Erebus seismic and infrasound network. The capabilities developed under this award will be useful to geophysical and more general Earth science investigations in other areas and regions. The portability of the system combined with its ability to operate in extreme environments ensures that it will be more than suitable for operating in diverse conditions world-wide. This capability will enable collection of new types of and higher quality data, for scientific advancement. By engaging a broad and experienced team in the design phase, we expect to benefit from collective expertise and knowledge sharing and ensure that the designs and solutions we develop are effectively implemented in the final product that will broadly benefit the Earth science community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.