The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) yesterday unveiled its ocean-bottom seismometer array plan, which it said would help the nation obtain more accurate data about underwater earthquakes and marine geology, while also being capable of analyzing underwater landslides to assess the risks of projects.
The seismometer, named the “YardBird” by developers, was introduced by the institution’s Taiwan Ocean Research Institute in 2010, with technical support from the Academia Sinica and National Sun Yat-sen University, and is capable of diving as deep as 5,000m below sea level, the laboratory said.
NARL assistant engineer Hsiao Yu-Hung (蕭毓宏) said the device uses Faraday’s law of induction by employing an electromagnet to transform movement into electricity that passes through a coil surrounding the magnet, allowing the seismometer to detect vibrations as light as a footstep, he said.
Photo: CNA
Fitted with a microseismometer balancing system — which Hsiao said is the device’s core technology and which was developed and patented in Taiwan — the machine’s sensor self-adjusts its slant so measurements are conducted perpendicular to the seabed, allowing for accurate gauging of earthquakes while minimizing the effects of underwater conditions, he said.
He said that the institution has since 2010 taken measurements with the seismometer from 28 sites in the waters surrounding the nation.
The deepest was conducted on Sept. 6, 2012, in a sea basin off Taitung County, at 4,887m below sea level, he added.
Highlighting the significance of the technology, he said Taiwan ranks No. 2 among all Asian nations in the application of ocean-bottom seismometers, second only to Japan, and that South Korea in 2011 and 2012 borrowed four devices from Taiwan for deployment off its eastern coast for six months.
Canada and China have also approached the nation to discuss possible collaborations, he said.
He said that the laboratory’s seismometer is very cost-efficient, costing about NT$900,000 (US$29,560) a unit. Entry-level ocean-bottom seismometers that can pick up frequencies only within a limited bandwidth usually cost about NT$1 million, while more capable ones can command as much as NT$3.8 million, he said.
The YardBird sits between the two, having wider bandwidth while costing less, he added.
Hsiao said that the lab plans to establish an array of ocean-bottom seismometers from waters off the nation’s northeastern shore to those near its southwestern shore to study seismic activities in the Okinawa Trough and the Manila Trench.
A fleet of 115 ocean-bottom seismometers has been proposed for the array, including five 20-unit groups of retractable seismometers intended for short-term measurements for scientific research and 15 fixed units.
With the array, the institution expects to more accurately measure the speed of shockwaves and better identify the epicenter of earthquakes, he said, adding that the system would also help reduce the risks of underwater projects being carried out in areas prone to submarine landslides.
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