The Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array
and CWU Geodesy Laboratory

The Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array (PANGA) comprises ~220 continuously telemetered, high-precision GNSS receivers located throughout the Pacific Northwest and greater Cascadia Subduction Zone. PANGA is operated out of the Central Washington University Geodesy Laboratory, which hosts an interdisciplinary team of tectonics, earthquake and tsunami hazards faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students. Data from PANGA GNSS receivers are continuously downloaded, analyzed, and disseminated to regional and global seismic and tsunami monitoring agencies operated by the USGS and NOAA, respectively. Publications from the lab can be found here.

The Laboratory's primary scientific role is to educate the next generation of earthquake hazards researchers and to support high precision, real-time Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) measurements. These are used to measure ongoing crustal deformation caused by plate tectonic and other forces, and in real-time, to save lives by mitigating earthquake and tsunami hazards. Under contracts from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the lab analyses all publically shared GPS data within the Cascadia subduction zone and greater Pacific Northwest. In addition, the Lab also analyzes data from roughly 1100 GNSS stations that compose the Network of the Americas, whose stations span the Pacific-North American tectonic plate boundary from Alaska to Mexico.

All of PANGA's GNSS stations and roughly 700 of NSF's Network of the Americas stations operated by UNAVCO, Inc., are telemetered in real-time to CWU, where they are processed in real-time using absolute point positioning of several cm resolution across the Cascadia subduction zone and its metropolitan regions. These real-time data are used to monitor and mitigate natural hazards arising from earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and coastal sea-level hazards. In addition, they are also used to monitor man-made structures such as Seattle's 520 and I90 floating bridges, (publication here) and power-generation/drinking-supply dams throughout the Cascadia subduction zone, including those along the Columbia River.

The goal of measuring millimeter-scale tectonic displacements throughout the Pacific Northwest requires stringent analysis and parameter estimation techniques. The Lab uses JPL/Caltech’s GIPSYX software to translate GNSS satellite phase observables into position time series, and many in-house parameter estimation and modeling software to quantify crustal deformation caused by plate tectonics, earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions. In addition to serving as the Data Analysis Facility for the Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array (PANGA), the CWU Geodesy Lab also supports student-led field experiments on Cascades volcanoes and in mainland Mexico, Baja California, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. All Geodetic data sets are shared freely and in real time; Rinex and other data files are available from PANGA's public archive on this website.

The laboratory is a major participant in the University NAVSTAR Consortium (UNAVCO), and the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO). These activies are funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Please utilize the reference provided below for citing use of PANGA data:

Pacific Northwest Geodetic Array (PANGA) (1996), GPS/GNSS Network and Geodesy Laboratory: Central Washington University, other/seismic network, Int. Fed. of Digital Seismograph Networks, doi:10.7914/SN/PW.