Greetings,

Recently I created a web page at http://www.seismicnet.com/psnformat4.html
that documents a new PSN event file format I would like to propose we use
once software is written to handle the new format. This format would
replace the existing type 3 format (see
http://www.seismicnet.com/info/format.txt) currently being used by PSN
stations. The reason for this change is to add new fields needed to better
describe the stations seismometer etc.

As you can see from the document the event file is broken up into 4
sections. The first being the fixed header section. This part of the event
file would supply the most common information needed by a program like
WinQuake to display the event data. 

The next section is variable in length. it would contain variable length
strings (up to 254 characters in length) used for the comment, station
location, sensor information etc It would also contain other information
not in the fixed sections of the header. The format of this section is
designed so that new fields can be added in the future without changing the
overall format of the event file.

The next sections is the seismogram data. The data array can be either 16
bit integer, 32 bit integer or floating point. After the data is two CRC-16
bytes. This is used to verify the integrity of the headers and data sections.

I'm also proposing a PSN Volume file. This would contain 2 or more PSN type
4 event records placed in one file. See the bottom of the psnformat4.html
document for the format of this file.

If I left anything fields out that you think are needed please let me know.

Regards,
Larry Cochrane
Redwood City, PSN

 


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