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Deprecation of the Version 1 Nominal Response Library (NRL) and PDCC

Tags: data services

Version 1 of the Nominal Response Library (NRL) will be deprecated on May 31, 2024. After this date, EarthScope will no longer maintain or update this version of the library and it will be slated for retirement before the end of 2024.

In April 2022, EarthScope introduced a new NRL (version 2), which is available as a web service. The new NRL provides important advancements including the ability to deliver responses for integrated recorders, datalogger state of health channels, and polynomial response descriptions. Multiple components, such as a sensor and datalogger, can be combined into a single cascaded response. Output is available in standard StationXML and RESP formats, and also StationXML-Response which delivers the response element of the FDSN StationXML schema. In addition, NRL responses can be browsed at the new web site, and a full download of the library responses is available.

Because NRL version 2 conventions differ in several key ways from version 1, both version 1 and version 2 were maintained in parallel for two years to give the community time to make the transition (for reference, these differences are described in the document Nominal Response Library Versions). From June 1 forward, new or updated responses will only be added to NRL version 2.

The Portable Data Collection Center (PDCC) utility will also be considered deprecated. PDCC has a long history of use as a seismic metadata creation and management tool. However, with its most recent version released in 2015, PDCC has not been maintained for some time and will not be updated for compatibility with the NRL version 2 or the latest releases of Java JVM. EarthScope, in conjunction with Epos-France, is actively developing a metadata editor tool that will replace the functionality of PDCC. Look for further announcements when this tool becomes ready for community use.

Questions and comments about the NRL or EarthScope services in general are always welcome and can be addressed to data-help@earthscope.org.