This project is the organization and teaching of a five-day short course for graduate students and other early career scientists on the opportunities and challenges in the processing and analysis of much increased volumes of time series data. The primary goal is to inspire a new set of leaders who are more able to exploit the large volumes of data coming from the NSF's EarthScope program. The emphasis of the short course is on seismic data from USArray. The short course is held at Northwestern University in August of 2010 and builds upon and draws from an earlier short course on these themes, which was held in the summer of 2009. The PIs are designing and delivering the program in collaboration with USArray and IRIS and a small number of guest instructors. The course takes place in a computer laboratory in the main library of Northwestern University. The curriculum includes lectures followed by hands-on exercises, and finishes with student group projects carried out during the five days.
Broader Impacts
This project directly addresses issues of human infrastructure through workforce development. The top short-term goal of this project is training of the next generation of seismologists in 1) the use of the best current generation data analysis tools and 2) feeling empowered to further develop the tools currently available to the seismological community. This project represents a community-based approach to specialized educational content. We intend to collect and share the student projects through a student-designed and -maintained wiki. Course materials will be also organized and posted to the web in collaboration with the Education and Outreach Program of the Incorporated Research Institutions or Seismology.
A one-week short course on USArray data processing was held at Northwestern University in August 2010. The course was targeted at graduate students and postdocs on the opportunities and challenges in the processing and analysis of large volumes of seismic data. As the volume of available broadband seismic data continues to increase as USArray Transportable Array migrates across the country new techniques and tools are being developed to access, process, and analyze the large amount of data. To carry out the desired scientific goals, which have been outlined for the EarthScope program, the community must continue with technological development in several areas. The IRIS DMS and various researchers in the community have continued to develop tools and workflows that have improved the manner in which seismic data is mined. The short course focused on teaching the next generation of seismologists current and newly developing ways to examine, process, analyze, and visualize these large volumes of data. The lectures and exercises taught at the course have been posted on the web through the IRIS Education and Outreach Program. In addition a new wiki for sharing resources to support seismology education has been created www.iris.edu/hq/es_course/content/2010.html and http://wiki.iris.edu/wiki/Seismic_Data_Use. Students worked in small groups to design and produce a data processing or analytical tool. The final products have been shared online and are in use of members of the short course and the community.
