The Davis Infrasound Facility (IS03), which monitors nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, was made operational last Friday after being officially certified by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).

Certification and acceptance of IS03 completes Australia’s obligation under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of establishing and operating 21 facilities in Australia, including the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Data generated by the facility is now available for integration into the International Monitoring System (IMS) — a system of 337 facilities around the world that verify compliance to the Treaty.

During the 2017–18 summer season a Geoscience Australia field team, supported by the Australian Antarctic Division, installed and commissioned a seven sensor array and associated power and fibre optic cabling to the Central Power Distribution Facility, which was constructed and commissioned in 2016–17.

Over the six months since the installation was completed, Geoscience Australia and the Australian Antarctic Division, in coordination with the CTBTO, performed the initial testing and validation of the facility. This included the recording, monitoring and evaluation of data generated by the facility, and validation of the state-of-health monitoring of the remote site, to ensure the reliability and quality of the data provided to the IMS.

This 2018–19 season, personnel from both Geoscience Australia and the Antarctic Division’s Antarctic Infrastructure section will perform minor works on site to finalise the installation and commence the operational maintenance phase of this program.