Expendable bubble tiltmeter for geophysical monitoring

Abstract

An unusually rugged highly sensitive and inexpensive bubble tiltmeter has been designed, tested, and built in quantity. These tiltmeters are presently used on two volcanoes and an Alaskan glacier, where they continuously monitor surface tilts of geological interest. This paper discusses the mechanical, thermal, and electric details of the meter, and illustrates its performance characteristics in both large (>10−4 radian) and small (<10−6 radian) tilt environments. The meter’s ultimate sensitivity is better than 2×10−8 radians rms for short periods (hours), and its useful dynamic range is greater than 104. Included is a short description of field use of the instrument for volcano monitoring.