The EarthScope facility is a multi-purpose array of geodetic and seismic instruments and a borehole observatory that will greatly expand the observational capabilities of the Earth sciences to lead to advancements in understanding the structure, evolution and dynamics of the North American continent.

This is made possible by theoretical, computational, and technological advances in geophysics, satellite geodesy, information technology, drilling technology and downhole instrumentation.

The EarthScope observational facility provides a framework for broad, integrated studies across the Earth sciences, including research on fault properties and the earthquake process, crustal strain transfer, magmatic and hydrous fluids in the crust and mantle, plate boundary processes, large-scale continental deformation, continental structure and evolution, and composition and structure of the deep-Earth.

In addition, EarthScope offers a centralized forum for Earth science education at all levels and an excellent opportunity to develop cyber infrastructure to integrate, distribute and analyze diverse data sets.

The Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) is a geodetic observatory designed to study the three-dimensional strain field resulting from the Earth's tectonic movements across the active boundary zone between the Pacific and North American plates in the western United States.

The observatory consists of arrays of GPS receivers and strainmeters, which will be used to make precise deformation measurements to determine the strain field on timescales from days to decades, supporting geologic investigations to examine the strain field over longer time scales.

When completed, the observatory will provide data and data products from 875 Trimble NetRS reference station GPS receivers, 100 portable GPS receivers, 175 borehole strainmeters, and 5 laser strainmeters. One hundred of the permanent GPS stations will form a backbone network at a station spacing of 200 kilometers (approximately 124 miles).

The remaining 775 permanent GPS stations will cluster around specific scientific targets such as fault zones and volcanoes. One hundred and seventy five borehole strainmeters arranged in clusters of 4-6 instruments will complement the GPS networks.

The Trimble NetRS receiver is the latest in a long line of innovative GPS reference station and infrastructure solutions from Trimble. The Trimble NetRS features the company's new R-track technology, which includes the capability of tracking the new Civil Signal (L2C), scheduled to be available on certain GPS satellites in 2004.

It is designed for use with Trimble's scalable infrastructure solutions and as a Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) for geodetic, survey, high accuracy GIS and monitoring applications.

The Trimble NetRS GPS receiver is a powerful, dependable receiver designed for a range of high precision and monitoring applications. The receiver offers ease of use, low power consumption, R-track technology for L2C signal tracking, Ethernet connectivity, advanced data management capability, and a rugged design, all of which makes it an extremely flexible product, ideal for Trimble's portfolio of scalable infrastructure solutions.

With Internet Protocol as the primary communications mechanism, the Trimble NetRS GPS receiver can be accessed and fully controlled remotely using standard tools, such as web browsers or FTP clients, or using Trimble infrastructure software.

The Trimble NetRS is built on a Linux framework, which allows for extension and customization that is simply not possible with proprietary operating systems. Network management features of the Trimble NetRS include the ability to store one receiver's data configuration to a file and restore it to the same receiver at a later date or clone the information to other receivers within a network. For more information about the Trimble NetRS reference station visit, www.trimble.com/netrs.html.

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