Turtle Mountain Sensor Network

Purpose

As part of an early-warning system, Alberta Geological Survey monitors Turtle Mountain's deformation, climate and seismicity.

All regular monitoring is automatic and data are sent wirelessly in near real-time to our servers. A warning management system automatically notifies officials should any change occur on the mountain that warrants further investigation by experts.

Movement: Between 2003 and 2005, we installed sensors around the south peak to measure displacement and tilt. As our understanding of the mountain's movement improved, we shifted our focus to monitoring a wider area on the eastern face of Turtle Mountain.

The sensor network has

• 22 crackmeters;
• 10 tiltmeters;
• 5 surface wire extensometers;
• 19 reflective prisms; and
• 11 dGPS receivers.

Climate: To understand how climate influences the mountain's mass movements, a weather station was installed on the south peak. Sensors on the weather station include a tipping-bucket rain gauge, barometer, thermometer, wind gauge and devices to measure solar radiation. When deformations occur, the weather data are key to determining if climate contributed to the movement.

Seismicity: We installed a six-station passive seismic network to detect seismic activity caused by slope movements, rock falls, collapse of nearby abandoned mines or natural seismicity in the region. These stations were spread out between the south peak and the toe of the mountain to provide a wide coverage area to help locate the source of seismic events in this array.