2016 Central Italy Earthquakes: comparison between GPS signals and low-cost distributed MEMS arrays

摘要

Modern seismic ground-motion sensors have reached an excellentperformance quality in terms of dynamic range and bandwidth resolution. Theweakest point in the recording of seismic events remains spatial samplingand spatial resolution, due to the limited number of installed sensors. Asignificant improvement in spatial resolution can be achieved by the use ofnon-conventional motion sensors, such as low-cost distributed sensors arraysor positioning systems, capable of increasing the density of classicalseismic recording networks. In this perspective, we adopted micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensors to integrate the use of standardaccelerometers for moderate-to-strong seismic events. In addition, weanalyse high-rate distributed positioning system data that also record soilmotion. In this paper, we present data from the 2016?Central Italyearthquakes as recorded by a spatially dense prototype MEMS array installedin the proximity of the epicentral area, and we compare the results to thesignal of local 1s GPS stations. We discuss advantages and limitations ofthis joint approach, reaching the conclusion that such low-cost sensors andthe use of high rate GPS signal could be an effective choice for integratethe spatial density of stations providing strong-motion parameters.