Project Description: During the Apollo-era of lunar exploration, short-period (SP), mid-period (MP), and geophone seismometers were installed on the Moon. Catalogs of seismic events were created, mostly using data from the MPs or geophones. The catalogs include data from several locations, and characterized events as shallow, deep, impacts, and thermal moonquakes. Now, in the Artemis era, modern SPs will be heading back to Moon as part of the Far-Side Seismic Suite (FSS), the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS), and the South Pole Seismic Station (SPS).
In this project the student will use existing catalogs of moonquakes to quantify how many of the events are visible on the Apollo SPs. This will help FSS, LEMS, and SPS prepare for the quantity of events they may detect. Depending on the students ability and available time, the project may be expanded to use additional methods such as machine learning or AI techniques to find previously uncatalogued events.
NASA Relevance: This project uses data from previous NASA missions (Apollo 12-17) and will help future missions including LEMS.
Work Description:
1) Background reading to understand the different types of moonquakes and their characteristics (i.e. how to tell them apart and classify them)
2) Background reading on the Apollo instrumentation and the instruments scheduled to land on the Moon in the next 5 years
3) Download Apollo data using existing python code and Jupyter Notebooks
4) Build a catalog of the events that were and were not detected by the Apollo SPs
5) Investigate characteristics of detected and undetected events (e.g. Apollo station, event location, timing of event, event type, etc)
6) Investigate if simple methods like filtering can increase visibility of events
7) Based on how often detected events occur, determine detection rates for future missions
8) If time allows, apply new methods (including possible machine learning or artificial intelligence approaches) to Apollo datasets to see if new events can be added to catalogs
Open or Reserved Project: Open, 1 position available.