5SeismicSensorsandtheirCalibration.docVIP

5 Seismic Sensors and their Calibration Erhard Wielandt Overview There are two basic types of seismic sensors: inertial seismometers which measure ground motion relative to an inertial reference (a suspended mass), and strainmeters or extensometers which measure the motion of one point of the ground relative to another. Since the motion of the ground relative to an inertial reference is in most cases much larger than the differential motion within a vault of reasonable dimensions, inertial seismometers are generally more sensitive to earthquake signals. However, at very low frequencies it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain an inertial reference, and for the observation of low-order free oscillations of the Earth, tidal motions, and quasi-static deformations, strainmeters may outperform inertial seismometers. Strainmeters are conceptually simpler than inertial seismometers although their technical realization and installation may be more difficult (see IS 5.1). This Chapter is concerned with inertial seismometers only. For a more comprehensive description of inertial seismometers, recorders and communication equipment see Havskov and Alguacil (2002). An inertial seismometer converts ground motion into an electric signal but its properties can not be described by a single scale factor, such as output volts per millimeter of ground motion. The response of a seismometer to ground motion depends not only on the amplitude of the ground motion (how large it is) but also on its time scale (how sudden it is). This is because the seismic mass has to be kept in place by a mechanical or electromagnetic restoring force. When the ground motion is slow, the mass will move with the rest of the instrument, and the output signal for a given ground motion will therefore be smaller. The system is thus a high-pass filter for the ground displacement. This must be taken into account when the ground motion is reconstructed from the recorded signal, and is the reason why we