Utilizing Earthscope's USArray Network to Examine Pressure Variations near the Appalachian Mountains

The Earthscope US Transportable Array (USArray) is a large network of pressure and seismic sensors currently deployed over the eastern United States as part of a large seismic study. Stations are semi-uniformly spaced about 70 km apart and deployed at a location for approximately two years, with plans in place to retain about half of the stations for an additional 3-5 years. Stations along and surrounding the Appalachian Mountains were installed between 2012 and 2013. Each station is outfitted with pressure sensors capable of providing observations at a reporting frequency of 1 Hz. These observations are being collected, archived, and displayed by the University of Utah for research as well as passed on via MADIS for use in operational weather prediction models.

The spatial and temporal frequency of this dataset provides a unique opportunity to examine pressure variations near the Appalachian Mountains. Data for each relevant station is being collected on a daily basis from when the station was deployed. For each station, time series data were filtered at numerous frequency bands to identify potential features of interest. Variance statistics were calculated and analyzed to determine the relative contribution of different meteorological phenomena to the full variance of the time series. Case studies were also examined for events where the Appalachian Mountains appeared to play a significant role in the unfolding meteorology.