Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; August 2007; v. 97; no. 4;
p. 1212-1220; DOI: 10.1785/0120060211
© 2007 Seismological Society of America
Broadening the Response of Short-Period Sensors: An Application to the Sprengnether S-7000 Seismometer
Elias Th. Koutsoukos1 and
Nikolaos S. Melis2
1 Signal Processing Laboratory
University Mental Health Research Institute
P.O. Box 66517
GR-156 01 Papagou, Athens, Greece
E-mail:
elkouts1{at}otenet.gr
(E.K.)
2 Institute of Geodynamics
National Observatory of Athens
Lofos Nimfon, Thisio, GR-118 10 Athens, Greece
E-mail:
nmelis{at}gein.noa.gr
(N.S.M.)
In this study the application of active damping on a short-period
Sprengnether S-7000 passive sensor is presented. This sensor uses a unique
magnetic suspension mechanism that eliminates spring resonance effects and
ensures improved thermal behavior. The resilient properties of the magnetic
spring are devoid of nonlinearities seen in the metallic springs. Although the
magnetic suspension is highly susceptible in external magnetic fields, the
magnetic scheme applied on the S-7000 seismometer ensures reliable magnetic
shielding and it can be considered as a stable suspension. The multiple
frequency-dependent feedback, which is the dominant technique in the design of
broadband sensors, modified the original velocity response envelop of the old
instrument. The theoretical response obtained from the new transfer function, in
accordance with the experimental response obtained from calibration data,
characterizes the modified S-7000 seismometer as a flat velocity (0.011 to
20 Hz) sensor with top sensitivity 1046 V/m/sec. Amplitude and spectral
analyses of datasets obtained from local ground noise, as well as from local,
regional, and teleseismic earthquake activity, have been shown to be comparable
with respective recordings of other standard broadband seismometers operated at
the Athens (ATH) seismographic station vault.
Copyright © 2009 by Seismological Society of America