The Infrasound Data Extraction and Archiving System (IDEAS) used at Windless Bight,
Antarctica (I55US) and Fairbanks, Alaska (I53US)
Curt A. L. Szuberla, Daniel L. Osborne, Jay Helmericks and Debi-Lee Wilkinson
Infrasound Group, Geophysical Institute, 903 Koyukuk Dr.
University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320
Based on nearly two years of experience operating our CTBT Infrasound Station at Windless
Bight, Antarctica (I55US) and the initial operation of our partially completed station at
Fairbanks, Alaska (I53US), we recently undertook a major overhaul of our hardware and
software systems for monitoring data quality and instrument state-of-health parameters. In
June 2002 we developed and deployed the Infrasound Data Extraction and Archiving System
(IDEAS) software package in response to lessons learned from each site. IDEAS is a robust,
comprehensive tool for managing, monitoring and archiving the data flow from multiple
infrasound stations. In four months of operation, IDEAS successfully processed and archived
100% of the available data from I55US without user-level intervention. Since IDEAS was
designed to accommodate multiple sites, it seamlessly integrated the data stream from I53US
the moment it became available. To assist the station operator, IDEAS also incorporates near
real-time graphical displays of all important station state-of-health parameters, alarm functions
and data flow, as well as an automated email alert system in the event of various station
failures and/or anomalies. Beyond software upgrades, we have improved the ergonomics of
our local facility in Fairbanks, allowing for efficient operation and monitoring of multiple
stations.