Thread: Update on IRIS Operations

Started: 2020-03-19 16:47:47
Last activity: 2020-03-19 16:47:47
Bob Detrick
2020-03-19 16:47:47
Dear Members of the IRIS Community,

We hope you, and your families, are safe and in good health. Like you, we at IRIS are continuing to closely monitor the COVID-19 outbreak and the latest information and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and state and local public health officials. IRIS will continue to operate the SAGE facility with as little disruption as possible while still keeping our employees and their families healthy and safe .

Here is an update on the current status of IRIS operations:

GSN: The GSN continues to operate normally. UCSD Data Collection Center (DCC) staff are teleworking and overseeing data collection, QC monitoring etc. Bans on foreign travel have suspended GSN station maintenance visits by UCSD field engineers although some station maintenance can be done remotely.

PASSCAL: The PASSCAL Instrument Center continues to operate although new mandates from the state and NMT will impact operations. Scheduled PASSCAL experiments are beginning to be postponed/canceled because of travel restrictions. However, other activities at the PIC continue to be supported. For example, we are shipping 100 nodes to the University of Utah for after-shock studies of yesterday's M5.7 earthquake.

TA-AK: The impact on TA-AK to date has been minimal, but we are very concerned about potential restrictions on internal travel within Alaska and closure of the US-Canada border on our summer field season which begins in April. We are monitoring this situation closely.

DMC: The DMC is operating normally; 100% of the DMC staff are teleworking.

EPO: The EPO staff is 100% teleworking. Meetings EPO staff were planning to participate in this Spring (NSTA, the USA Engineering and Science Festival and SSA) have been canceled and the 2020 IRIS Undergraduate Internship Program has been suspended. EPO staff have been working to facilitate on-line learning to assist university faculty who now must teach their courses remotely. Planning for the GAGE-SAGE workshop in August is continuing.

IRIS HQ: Most IRIS HQ staff are teleworking, with a few staff working in the office, some just a couple of days a week, to deal with management activities that require a physical presence in the office. Contingency planning is underway to continue operations if local/state governments mandate the closure of all non-essential businesses.

In these difficult times, please look after your health and that of your families. It is everyone’s first priority. Meanwhile, we will do everything we can to continue to provide the services you expect from the IRIS-operated SAGE facility.

Safe safe!

Bob Detrick


Dr. Robert S. Detrick, President
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
1200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20005

202 407-7000









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