Postdoc wins Visualising EarthScope Science Prize

Postdoctoral Research Assistant Kasra Hosseini has been awarded 1st prize by Earthscope in their “Visualising EarthScope Science: Motion” competition. The competition aims to highlight and celebrate the most effective, stunning, and stimulating visuals conveying the work of EarthScope scientists, and was open to faculty, postdocs, and graduate and undergraduate students who use EarthScope data in their research.

Kasra explains his visualisation: “Seismic tomography is the pre-eminent tool for imaging the Earth’s interior. Since the advent of this method in the mid-1970s, the internal structure of Earth has been vastly sampled and imaged at a variety of scales, and the resulting models have served as the primary means to investigate the processes driving our planet.

“Over 2.5 million cross-correlation travel times and 3.3 million high frequency picked arrival times were used to create the model in this video. USArray, the seismological component of EarthScope, was one of the main data sources used to dramatically increase the resolution of this model beneath North America and the surrounding area. Moreover, by using the core-diffracted seismic waves recorded by the USArray stations and other global seismic networks, we were able to sharpen the imaged structures in the lower third of the mantle (~2000-2800 km depth).”

Hosseini’s video, alongside other winning entries, will be highlighted on the EarthScope website, in the summer issue of inSights, on EarthScope and partner social media channels, and at the EarthScope booth at the 2017 GSA and AGU meetings.