ISF Format

ISF format with DMC extensions

Defined 2007-03-14

The accepted format for associated hypocenter and phase information submitted to the EarthScope DMC is the IASPEI Seismic Format (ISF) BULLETIN message type, specifically IMS1.0:SHORT format with an ISF Phase Information Sub-block. In addition to this specification, specially constructed IMS1.0 comments recognized and parsed by the DMC should be included to indicate SEED location ID’s, unambiguous FDSN/SEED network codes and submitting agencies.

The IRIS-recognized comments take the form of IMS 1.0 unformatted comments and should not interfere with parsers built for IMS1.0 or ISF. Their specific construction is detailed below.

Blocks specifically supported are, in message order:

  • Bulletin Title Block
  • Agency Comment (IRIS/FDSN specific)
  • Event Title Block
  • Origin Block
  • Origin Sub-block
  • Magnitude Sub-block
  • Comment Sub-block
  • Phase Block
  • Phase Information Sub-block
  • Phase Information Sub-block Comments (IRIS/FDSN specific)

Each of these Block formats are defined in the ISF/IMS1.0 document pages 163-170 (link to document below) with the exception of these sections:

  1. The IRIS/FDSN specific “Agency Comment” is defined as an IRIS Comment (see below) with the following key/value pair: AGENCY="xx" describing the agency submitting the Bulletin. For example:

(IRIS AGENCY="University of Washington")

  1. The “Phase Information Sub-block” is defined in the ISF extensions document starting on page 16 (link to document below).
  1. The IRIS/FDSN specific “Phase Information Sub-block Comments” are defined as IRIS Comments (see below) with the following key/value pairs:
FDSNNETWORKCODE="xx" :: FDSN Network code associated with the picked waveform.
FDSNLOCATIONID="xx" :: FDSN Location ID associated with the picked waveform.
FDSNQUALITYCODE="x" :: FDSN data quality code (D, R, Q, etc.)

The FDSN network code is required, the location id and quality code are assumed to be unknown if not present. For example:

(IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="II" FDSNLOCATIONID=" ")

or

(IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="00" FDSNQUALITYCODE="R")

IRIS Comments

IRIS specific comments using the IMS1.0 “unformatted comment” syntax are formatted beginning with an open, round bracket “(” at position 2 in the record/line, followed by “IRIS”, followed by key and (quoted) value pairs and ending with a closed, round bracked “)”. A comment line should not be longer than 120 characters.

For data submitted to the DMC the station code (Phase Block), channel code (Phase Information Sub-block), and IRIS Comment keys: FDSNNETWORKCODE, FDSNLOCATIONID and FDSNQUALITYCODE should all follow the SEED/FDSN naming nomenclature and uniquely identify the waveform associated with the phase arrival.

Origin author codes

The “Author” field of origin lines should be set to one of the following agencies if they match the description:

  • ISC: International Seismic Centre
  • PDE: NEIC monthly PDE listing
  • PDE-W: NEIC weekly PDE listing
  • PDE-Q: NEIC (QED) daily listing
  • SCEDC: Southern California Earthquake Data Center
  • NCEDC: Northern California Earthquake Data Center
  • ANFR: USArray Array Network Facility, additional review
  • ANF: USArray Array Network Facility, analyst reviewed

Any other author codes will be accepted but not used for determining the primary origin for a given event.

External ISF Documentation

The ISF format is an extension of the IMS1.0 format, specifications for each can be found at the links below.

Examples

Simple example message (this is not a real event):

DATA_TYPE BULLETIN IMS1.0:short
 (IRIS AGENCY="University of Washington")
EVENT 01060441 Off west coast of Washington
   Date       Time        Err   RMS Latitude Longitude  Smaj  Smin  Az Depth   Err Ndef Nsta Gap  mdist  Mdist Qual   Author      OrigID
1978/01/06 04:41:22.20               18.7900  121.9000                  33.0                                                    01060441
Sta     Dist  EvAz Phase        Time      TRes  Azim AzRes   Slow   SRes Def   SNR       Amp   Per Qual Magnitude    ArrID
CHTO   21.70 273.7 P        04:46:12.740   2.4                           ___  43.8     261.1  1.30 m_i            08921001
MAJO   22.77  35.7 P        04:46:22.825   1.1                           ___  23.1     428.2  2.25 m_q            08921002
CTAO   45.42 147.0 P        04:49:38.968   1.3                           ___  20.4     108.9  1.50 m_q            08921003
KAAO   49.24 299.7 P        04:50:09.284   2.0                           ___  61.3     277.1  1.35 m_e            08921004
MAIO   57.10 301.5 P        04:51:07.757   2.6                           ___  23.9      51.5  0.60 m_q            08921005
Net      Chan F Low_F HighF AuthPhas    Date     eTime wTime eAzim wAzim  eSlow wSlow      eAmp  ePer eMag Author     ArrID
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  0.200                                                    SEA_KenC 08921001
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  ")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA_KenC 08921002
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  ")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA      08921003
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="R")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  0.400                                                    SEA      08921004
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  ")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA      08921005
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="R")

Another example message with multiple origins and magnitudes (this is not a real event either):

DATA_TYPE BULLETIN IMS1.0:short
 (IRIS AGENCY="University of Washington")
EVENT 01060441
   Date       Time        Err   RMS Latitude Longitude  Smaj  Smin  Az Depth   Err Ndef Nsta Gap  mdist  Mdist Qual   Author      OrigID
1978/01/06 04:41:22.20               18.7900  121.9000                  33.0                                          PDE       01060441
1978/01/06 04:41:23.30               18.7923  121.8900                  10.0                                          PDE-W        14406
1978/01/06 04:41:30.49  13.11  0.26  18.8010  121.6772 316.8 298.0  72  25.0f        12    4 353  67.80  77.94 a i uk ANF          16244
Magnitude  Err Nsta Author      OrigID
mb     4.7        7 NEIC         14406
mb     4.6        7 ANF          16244
Sta     Dist  EvAz Phase        Time      TRes  Azim AzRes   Slow   SRes Def   SNR       Amp   Per Qual Magnitude    ArrID
CHTO   21.70 273.7 P        04:46:12.740   2.4                           ___  43.8     261.1  1.30 m_i            08921001
MAJO   22.77  35.7 P        04:46:22.825   1.1                           ___  23.1     428.2  2.25 m_q            08921002
CTAO   45.42 147.0 P        04:49:38.968   1.3                           ___  20.4     108.9  1.50 m_q            08921003
KAAO   49.24 299.7 P        04:50:09.284   2.0                           ___  61.3     277.1  1.35 m_e            08921004
MAIO   57.10 301.5 P        04:51:07.757   2.6                           ___  23.9      51.5  0.60 m_q            08921005
Net      Chan F Low_F HighF AuthPhas    Date     eTime wTime eAzim wAzim  eSlow wSlow      eAmp  ePer eMag Author     ArrID
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  0.200                                                    SEA      08921001
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="Q")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA      08921002
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="Q")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA      08921003
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="Q")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  0.400                                                    SEA      08921004
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="Q")
IU        SHZ c   0.7   3.0 P        1978/01/06  1.000                                                    SEA      08921005
 (IRIS FDSNNETWORKCODE="IU" FDSNLOCATIONID="  " FDSNQUALITYCODE="Q")
10:01:19 v.b3198453