U N A V C O , A N O N - P R O F I T U N I V E R S I T Y - G O V E R N E D C O N S O R T I U M , F A C I L I T A T E S G E O S C I E N C E R E S E A R C H A N D E D U C A T I O N U S I N G G E O D E S Y.
The UNAVCO Facility
The UNAVCO Facility in Boulder, Colorado is the primary operational activity of UNAVCO and exists to support university and other research investigators in their use of geophysical sensor technology for Earth sciences research. The Facility performs this task by providing state-of-the-art instrumentation, ancillary equipment, and field engineering support for projects; installing, operating and maintaining continuous GNSS/GPS networks globally; undertaking new technology development and evaluation of commercially available products for research applications; and by archiving geophysical sensor data and data products for future applications. The Facility is funded under multi-year grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Continental Scale Soil Moisture Network Expansion
April 19, 2012
One continuously operating GPS station was installed In Ames, Iowa as part of the larger Continental Scale Soil Moisture monitoring network.
Principal Investigators Kristine Larson and John Braun are using GPS signal-to-noise (SNR) data from these sites to estimate surface soil moisture content. More
White Sands Dune Migration
April 2, 2012
UNAVCO provided support for Dr. Ryan Ewing's (University of Alabama) first TLS survey campaign to the White Sands National Monument. Scanning was carried out over the course of four days in three separate locations within the monument. Site access and project assistance were made possible by Dr. Ewing's ongoing collaborator, David Bustos, White Sand's Chief of Resource Management. More
Nicoya Peninsula continuous GPS network telemetry upgrades and COCONet network expansion
April 16, 2012
The Nicoya Peninsula continuous GPS network consists of 18 remote sites distributed mostly in the forearc of the Cocos subduction zone in northwest Costa Rica. The network is designed to measure transient surface deformation above the seismogenic plate-boundary interface. The network was established and expanded in several stages beginning in 2006. Many of the remotely located sites were constructed without telemetry requiring periodic site visits to retrieve GPS data, which is stored at each site. In January 2012, a telemetry upgrade was completed on 12 sites to permit real-time data access. In addition to work done on the Nicoya GPS network, two site upgrades were completed for integration into the Regional COCONet GPS network.More
Installation of Two Deep Drilled-Braced Monuments and One Short Drilled-Braced Monument at The Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory
February 24, 2012
In 2011, a collaborative NASA-funded Space Geodesy Project was initiated. Jointly operated by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratories, the project is focused on constructing, operating, and maintaining a NASA Space Geodetic Network (NSGN) of integrated, multi-technique next generation space geodetic observing systems. More
Measurements of Crustal Deformation in the Rio Grande Rift Region
January 26, 2012
The Rio Grande Rift GPS Experiment, funded by the National Science Foundation's EarthScope program, provides a regional enhancement to the broader Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) network. Its purpose is to measure relative motions at the Earth's surface and determine how the Rio Grande Rift region in Colorado and New Mexico is deforming. As the results published in the journal Geology show, the Rio Grande Rift GPS network has answered the fundamental question in the affirmative: "Is the rift still active?" More
