DESIGN OF A DATALOGGER, SHOTBOX AND PHASE LOCKED LOOP FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER USED IN SEISMIC STUDY AND 3D IMAGING OF ANTARCTIC ICE SHEETS

With growing concern for global warming and climate change, it is of most importance to extend current research and studies towards the factors that contribute towards it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains the increase in average temperature over the last 100 years and th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nandakumar, Vishnu Vardhan
Other Authors: Dr. Sridhar Anandakrishnan
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Penn State 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://etda.libraries.psu.edu/theses/approved/WorldWideIndex/ETD-3254/index.html
Description
Summary:With growing concern for global warming and climate change, it is of most importance to extend current research and studies towards the factors that contribute towards it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains the increase in average temperature over the last 100 years and the rise in sea level associated with it to be 3.1mm per year. The most important factor is the melting glaciers and polar ice sheets. Hence it becomes absolutely important to study their behavior. This thesis is in three folds - three design modules, each contributing to the analysis of glaciers, has been explained. In each of chapters, steps involved in designing and implementing specific seismic modules together with their working, application and limitations have been discussed. The first design is a seismic receiver, a geo-pebble. Its an autonomous wireless, geophysical data logger used for seismic studies and 3D imaging of Antarctic Ice sheets. The primary purpose of geo-pebble receiver is for efficient data acquisition, signal processing and recording using an FPGA. Next we discuss about the Shot box, which is a high voltage charger/discharger time synchronized with a GPS receiver. The shot box is a triggering device in function, which initiates the recording process. Finally, the software specifications of a PIC microcontroller based wake up radio, phase locked loop frequency synthesizer, intended for synchronization of the geo pebbles, isabbreviated.