Data center and station operation
The BGR operates a data center for seismological and infrasound data. The infrastructure of the data center is used both for the data of the Erdbebendienst des Bundes (EdB) and for the data collected as part of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The BGR data center contains data from its own stations and data from cooperation partners (German universities and country institutions).
There are three different types of digital data sets:
- Continuous waveform data, i.e. recording of ground motion at the measurement sites ,or air pressure at infrasound stations.
- Data describing the station sites, i.e. their location and technical equipment (station database).
- Event data, i.e. information on earthquakes and other seismic events obtained from the waveform data (German earthquake catalog)
Datenzentrum
The data set of continuous waveform data goes back to 1976 for individual measurement locations. It now (as of 2025) comprises around 290 stations in Germany with a total data volume of around 60 terabytes. The database provides a central basis for the seismological research and consulting tasks of the BGR and its cooperation partners and also serves as a database for the seismological research of other research institutions in Germany and abroad. In this way, the BGR ensures the German contribution to global earth observation in seismology. Almost all the data described here are freely accessible and united in the European network (EIDA - European Integrated Data Archive), in which the BGR data center is also integrated.
The Federal Earthquake Service at the BGR operates four seismological station networks and arrays in Germany (see interactive map):
- The German Regional Seismic Network (GRSN) currently comprises more than 30 broadband stations distributed across Germany. This national network is operated in cooperation with the German universities, the GFZ Potsdam and the state earthquake services.
- The Gräfenberg Array (GRF) consists of 13 broadband stations in the Franconian Alb. It has an extension of around 100 kilometers in a north-south direction and around 40 kilometers in an east-west direction.
- The GERES array consists of 25 short-period stations and two three-component broadband stations on four concentric circles with a maximum diameter of around four kilometers. The array is installed in the Sulzberg area in the Bavarian Forest.
- The GQ network is currently being set up and is intended to complement the seismometer network in Germany using short-period sensors, i.e. to cover the areas where there are no seismometers. The aim is to obtain near-field registrations for tremors at any location in Germany
Data from the following networks are also available via the BGR data center:
GR: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, doi: 10.25928/mbx6-hr74
BQ: Seismological Network of the Bensberg Observatory of the University of Cologne, doi: 10.7914/SN/BQ
HS: Hessischer Erdbebendienst, doi: 10.7914/SN/HS
TH: Thuringian Seismological Network, doi: 10.7914/SN/TH
SX: Sachsennetz, doi: 10.7914/SN/SX
RN: Seismological Network der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, doi: 10.7914/SN/RN
KQ: Seismological Network of the University of Kiel, doi: 10.7914/SN/KQ
LE: Earthquake Service Southwest Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, doi: 10.7914/SN/LE
Access to the contents of the data center
There are internationally standardized web services for the three types of data described above (see the websites of the global organization FDSN - Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks). These services are freely accessible and allow automated access or data exchange. An interactive interface for data retrieval (in English) is offered within the EIDA network. Daily displays of almost all GRSN stations can also be generated here.
The BGR web service for retrieving event data (German Earthquake Catalog) is currently under construction and will be available in 2025/2026. Until its completion, there is a non-standardized interface for access under the link above.
Further information on data access can be found on the BGR's EIDA website
