Unit 4: GPS and infinitesimal strain analysis
Students work with GPS velocity data from three stations in the same region that form an acute triangle. By investigating how the ellipse inscribed within this triangle deforms, students learn about strain, strain ...

Unit 6: Applying GPS strain and earthquake hazard analyses to different regions
Students select their own set of three stations in an area of interest to them, conduct a strain analysis of the area between the stations, and tie the findings to regional tectonics and societal impacts in a 5–7 ...

Unit 5: 2014 South Napa Earthquake and GPS strain
The 2014 South Napa earthquake was the first large earthquake (Mag 6) to occur within the Plate Boundary Observatory GPS network (now Network of the Americas- NOTA) since installation. It provides an excellent ...

Unit 3: Getting started with GPS data
This unit provides essential background information on GPS (global positioning system) and reference frames. Students learn how to access GPS location and velocity data from the Network of the Americas (NOTA). They ...

Episodic tremor and slip: The Case of the Mystery Earthquakes | Lessons on Plate Tectonics
Earthquakes in western Washington and Oregon are to be expected—the region lies in the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Offshore, the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate subducts under the North American plate, from northern California to British Columbia. The region, however, also experiences exotic seismicity— Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS).In this lesson, your students study seismic and GPS data from the region to recognize a pattern in which unusual tremors--with no surface earthquakes--coincide with jumps of GPS stations. This is ETS. Students model ductile and brittle behavior of the crust with lasagna noodles to understand how properties of materials depend on physical conditions. Finally, they assemble their knowledge of the data and models into an understanding of ETS in subduction zones and its relevance to the millions of residents in Cascadia.

Unit 3: Yellowstone is active, but will it erupt?
An eruption at Yellowstone could have devastating effects on large areas of the United States and Canada, but what is the likelihood of such an eruption occurring? This unit has students explore seismic data for ...

Unit 3: Channel Capacity and Manning's Equation
A flood occurs when the flow rate in a river exceeds the capacity of a channel to transmit water downstream within its banks. How much water can a channel transmit? Answering this question requires measurements of ...

Exploring California's Plate Motion and Deformation with GPS | Lessons on Plate Tectonics
Students analyze data to study the motion of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. From GPS data, students detect relative motion between the plates in the San Andreas fault zone--with and without earthquakes. To get to that discovery, they use physical models to understand the architecture of GPS, from satellites to sensitive stations on the ground. They learn to interpret time series data collected by stations (in the spreading regime of Iceland), to cast data as horizontal north-south and east-west vectors, and to add those vectors head-to-tail.Students then apply their skills and understanding to data in the context of the strike-slip fault zone of a transform plate boundary. They interpret time series plots from an earthquake in Parkfield, CA to calculate the resulting slip on the fault and (optionally) the earthquake's magnitude.

Post-processing GPS/GNSS Base Station Position
This assignment uses static GNSS methods to establish a base station used to establish a control point for a kinematic survey (establishing ground control points used in Structure from Motion for Analysis of River ...

Ground Control Points for Structure from Motion
This assignment uses real-time kinematic GNSS methods to establish ground control points used in the Day 3 Part 2: Analysis of River Characteristics structure from motion (SfM) activity. Day 3 Part 1 - This ...