IRIS Knowledge Base

The USArray TA stations have a standardized naming scheme (there are a few exceptions to this rule, mostly where pre-existing stations have been incorporated into the array). The names are 4 characters long and reflect the grid structure of the array.

1. The first character indicates roughly what latitude the station is at : station names that begin with 'A' are furthest north and progress south down the alphabet to 'Z'. Even further south the station names start with numbers 0 through 9.
2. The second part of the station name is a two digit number indicating the array progression from west (lower number) to east (larger number). 
3. The last character of the station name indicates the site version. The default is 'A'. If for some reason the original site for that grid space needed to be moved, the new station name would end in 'B' (and on down the alphabet as needed).

Example station names are:

A05A (Maple Falls, WA)
O16A (Springville, UT)
Z48A (Northport, AL)
226B (Tecolote Peak, Malaga, NM)