The GIS Laboratory provides Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing, and 3D Modeling resources for researchers within the Division.

The GIS Lab (North Mudd 309) is a 21' x 22' computer laboratory designed for eight computer workstations. Currently the lab has two Sun Ultra computers, a PC, and a Macintosh. A large central table serves as a meeting site and work area for laying out project maps.

The Lab hosts ArcView, ArcInfo, and ER Mapper software on the Sun computers, making these available throughout the GPS Division network. Researchers use the lab for compiling and digitizing spatial and attribute data, interpreting geologic and geophysical data, and producing publication-quality maps and figures.

• Campaign Networks:
  • Death Valley: The Death Valley campaign GPS network consists of 15 benchmarks designed to determine slip rates on major strike-slip faults in the Death Valley region, and to estimate the potential hazard these faults pose for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.  This network was occupied annually from 1991 until 1996, and has been periodically occupied since the construction of the BARGEN continuous GPS network in the region (discussed below).
  • Jalisco, Mexico: This 11 benchmark GPS network is a collaboration among la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Caltech, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of California at Berkeley. The network was established in 1995, in Jalisco and Colima, Mexico, in order to monitor deformation of the North America plate over the subducting Rivera plate. In October 1995,  a magnitude 8 earthquake occurred in the subduction zone beneath the GPS network.  The network was reoccupied annually from the earthquake until 2000, and periodically since that time. Additional benchmarks and a continuous GPS station have been added since 2000, with more continuous sites planned. More information on this network can be found here.
• Continuous Networks: Caltech operates four separate continuous GPS networks, which combined consist of 70 permanent GPS sites. An additional 35 sites are planned to expand these networks in the near future.
  • Basin and Range Geodetic Network (BARGEN): BARGEN consists of 53 GPS sites situated across the Basin and Range province of the western United States, including sites in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.  The network is designed in part to better understand processes involved in large-magnitude continental extension, and in part to understand strain rates surrounding the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The 18 original BARGEN sites were installed in 1996, with network expansions in 1998-1999 and 2001-2002. An 18 site expansion is planned for fall and winter of 2003-2004. Learn more at the BARGEN website.
  • Jalisco: Currently, a single permanent GPS site runs within the Jalisco campaign network, described above. Four additional permanent sites will be constructed in the near future.
  • Nepal Geodetic Monitoring Network (NGMN): The Nepal Geodetic Monitoring Network is jointly operated by Caltech, the Département d’Analyse et Surveillance de l’Environnement, France, and the Department of Mines and Geology, Nepal. Three sites have been in operation since 1995. Ten additional sites were installed in 2003-2004, and 13 more are planned for 2004-2005. The geodetic network complements an existing seismic network, and is aimed at monitoring crustal deformation and seismicity associated with moutain building in  the Himalaya.
  • Sumatran GPS Array (SUGAR): SUGAR consists of 7 GPS sites on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Ten more sites are planned for 2004. The geodetic sites complement ongoing paleoseismic research into the tectonic history of the Sumatran subduction zone. The objective is to document the spatial  pattern  and potentail temporal variation of strain during the seismic cycle along the subduction zone.
• Field Equipment: Caltech has several dual-frequency Trimble 4000 series geodetic grade GPS receivers, as well as L1/L2 ground plane and brass choke ring antennas. These receivers are often used, along with UNAVCO supplied equipment, in large-scale tectonic studies, and are also used as part of a pool of instruments maintained by various local universities for smaller-scale earthquake research experiments in California, and for deployment after major earthquakes.
• GPS Laboratory: This small yet important facility is used for the testing, maintenance, and calibration, as well as storage, of the GPS equipment and accessories. It opens onto the loading area in the South Mudd basement for convenient field deployments.

Research in paleomagnetism at Caltech has covered a wide range of topics, including low-latitude glaciations in the Proterozoic, global plate reconstructions, regional tectonics, neotectonics, and recent (and not-so-recent) geomagnetic field behavior.

The Caltech Paleomagnetics/Biomagnetics Laboratories include two cryogenic magnetometers, a paleomagnetic furnace, and automated AF demagnetization equipment. The clean lab facilities are housed in four rooms in the sub-basement of the Charles Arms building on the Caltech campus. Two of these rooms are large-volume, magnetically-shielded environments, one dedicated for general paleomagnetic measurements and the other for biomagnetic and rock magnetic measurements. A third room is a general-purpose, wet chemical lab with primitive facilities for DNA sequencing and tissue culture research. The fourth room houses the main computing equipment for the group, a dark room and student desks. Professor Joseph Kirschvink is in charge of the Paleomagnetics/Biomagnetics Laboratories.