September 2020, the Institute of Geophysics (China Earthquake Administration) commenced an observational study of the Xianshuihe – Longmenshan – Anning River – Ta Liang Mountains Fault Zone. The project objective was to better understand the microseismic activity, fault morphology, and deep structure of the fault zone.

A total 160 stations of short-period integrated seismic observation equipment were deployed across the area, of which 120 were SmartSolo IGU-16HR EB 3C. The three-component smart autonomous acquisition system showed many advantages for this recording application. It’s compact size, portability, simple deployment, easy operation, and tough waterproof durability all provided welcome assurance for the success of the project. By early January 2021, after 105 days of observation, the project team had collected 5Tb of high-quality raw seismic data. There were still about 25 days of battery life remaining on the stations, showing that a total 130 days continuous acquisition would be possible with this IGU-16 equipment configuration.

The SmartSolo Intelligent Geophone Unit product family is well known for it’s high reliability in the field of geophysical exploration equipment. Applications variously include oil & gas, mineral exploration, geohazard investigation, landslide monitoring, shallow urban surveys, archaeology, natural seismic data acquisition, and ambient noise recordings. The SmartSolo IGU is designed to help you easily perceive the complex world! We look forward to providing world-class products, services and solutions to meet your vibration sensing requirements.

Figure.1 Planned receiver layout

Figure.2 Events during acquisition

Figure.3 Summary of SmartSolo memory usage, with 112 units using 2ms sampling, and 8 units using 4ms sampling interval.