Urban Noise – The benefits of broadband seismometers in schools

Abstract:

The upheaval of covid-19 lockdowns has highlighted changes in seismic noise across the globe as the seismic hum of everyday life pauses. The Australian Seismometer in Schools (AuSIS) network provides a unique opportunity to look at the changes in seismic noise across the Australian continent in a variety of settings.

The AuSIS program has been running since 2011 and is now a network of 50 seismometers spread across Australia in both city and rural schools. The program is unique in that it has a dual purpose of both education outreach and research and for this reason Guralp 6TD instruments have been used giving a wider bandwidth than most school programs. One of the surprising results is that even before lockdown noise at schools was actually much lower over most of the day than expected for a site inside a heavily utilised building. Normally during weekdays, there are short periods of high noise where mass movements of students can be identified at the start and end of the day and sometimes between classes or briefly during Saturday morning sports. Over school holidays, in particular the Christmas/New Year period, the noise levels are overall extremely quiet. During the COVID-19 lockdown period the noise levels were similar to those during the holidays. As schools resumed face-to-face learning the noise levels increased, but not to the same level as “normal” times. We also observed differences across the network in locations where there were varying social distancing measures, in particular the effects of Lockdown 2.0 in Melbourne as the second wave of the virus hit.

This shows that schools can provide an opportunity for seismological research in both urban and rural settings with the advantage that they are generally secure and have people onsite who are interested and can be called upon to fix minor issues. Schools also provide a social connection into the wider community giving them sense of ownership and engagement in the science that is going on around them and inspiring future geoscientists.