The EGU2010 SM1.3 Seismic Centers Data Acquisition session: an introduction to Antelope, EarthWorm and SeisComP, and their use around the World

Session "SM1.3 - Seismic Centers Data Acquisition"at the General Assembly 2010 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), taking place in Vienna (Austria) between 2-7 May 2010, was organized to present both differences and similarities in operations by different types of seismic data centers in order to share experiences and stimulate constructive discussions. Only a few, widely used, "all-in-one" data acquisition and processing packages are available for seismic data centers, two public domain tools (SeisComP and EarthWorm) and one commercial tool (Antelope). The choice for any particular tool may depend on many different criteria, from operational aspects to scientific results, or on the availability of specific requirements in relation to a specific mission. The development of EarthWorm originally started in 1993 in the USA to replace aging and vendor tied regional processing systems. Antelope, on the other hand, started around 1996 with the aim to have real-time data flow from the field sensors to the scientist. SeisComP also started in the nineties as real-time data acquisition and processing system and evolved initially towards an early warning system for seismic observatories. Protocols have been established to exchange real-time waveform data between the different packages.