A VLF/LF facility network for preseismic electromagnetic investigations

Patrick H. M. Galopeau (1) , Ashanthi S Maxworth (2) , Mohammed Y Boudjada (3) , Hans U Eichelberger (3) , Mustapha Meftah (1) , Pier F Biagi (4) , Konrad Schwingenschuh (3)

1 HELIOS - LATMOS
2 University of Southern Maine
3 IWF - Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences
4 Department of Physics [Bari]

Earthquakes are one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters. Many indications have been collected on the presence of seismo-ionospheric perturbations preceding such tragic phenomena. Radio techniques are the essential tools leading the detection of seismo-electromagnetic emissions by monitoring at very low frequency (VLF, 3-30 kHz) and low frequency (LF, 30-300 kHz) sub-ionospheric paths between transmitters and receivers (Hayakawa, 2015). In this brief communication, we present the implementation of a VLF/LF network for searching earthquake electromagnetic precursors. The proposed system is comprised of a monopole antenna including a preamplifer, a GPS receiver and a recording device. This system will deliver a steady stream of real-time amplitude and phase-measurements and a daily recording VLF/LF data set. A first implementation of the system was done in Graz, Austria, the second one will be in Guyancourt, France, a third one in Réunion, France, and a fourth one in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. In the near future, we are planning on expanding of our network for enhanced monitoring and increased coverage.

Domains: Volcanology

Patrick H. M. Galopeau, Ashanthi S Maxworth, Mohammed Y Boudjada, Hans U Eichelberger, Mustapha Meftah, et al.. A VLF/LF facility network for preseismic electromagnetic investigations. Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions, In press, ⟨10.5194/gi-2023-1⟩. ⟨insu-04076569⟩