Roman Wronowski

The Książ Geodynamic Laboratory is a unique research centre, both nationally and globally, conducting a comprehensive research program in the field of Earth sciences. It primarily focuses on studying tidal and non-tidal phenomena using water-tube tiltmeters. Over the past decade, the Laboratory has developed a research program aimed at predicting seismic events (strong seismic shocks with a magnitude of ≥3.6 of natural origin) by analyzing changes in stress conditions within the orogen. The modification of the water-tube tiltmeter recording system proposed in this article will significantly enhance the quality of ongoing research. First and foremost, modernisation of the water-tube tiltmeter detector will increase the instrument’s sensitivity by two orders of magnitude, enabling the measurement of water level changes at the picometer scale. Equally important, the upgrade will allow real-time data acquisition. This feature is critical for the practical application of observations, as real-time results can be used to forecast the risk of strong seismic shocks in two key Polish mining regions: the Upper Silesian Coal Basin and the Legnica- Głogów Copper District. Previous studies based on archival data (2013-2017) have confirmed the high effectiveness of this forecasting procedure (>95%). The insights gained will undoubtedly contribute significantly to mitigating seismic hazards in underground mines.

Since 2017, the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland, has measured and gathered over 35,000 hours of observations with the use of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope. This paper outlines the Standard Data Product acquired from the LOFAR PL610 station located in Borówiec, Poland. Within this context, we detail the data products that are accessible, provide metadata descriptions for them, and include an example of the data under both quiet and disturbed ionospheric conditions.

The question of the connection between solar and thunderstorm activity is not new. The discussion among scientists began before the cosmic era. The correlations of the ground-based registration of the cosmic ray flux and meteorological observations have been performed since the 50s of the 20th century. The discussed problem is related to the influence of cosmic rays on the creation of clouds, particularly thunderstorm clouds. The intensity of the galactic cosmic ray flux is controlled by the density and velocity of the solar wind. The increase in the solar wind flux during high solar activity leads to decreasing galactic cosmic ray flux, but on the other hand, the solar activity creates solar cosmic rays. Using data from the PERUN system and the DEMETER satellite, we tried to estimate the connection between the thunderstorm activity in Poland and solar activity during the period of the DEMETER operational activity (2004–2010). The influence of thunderstorms on the ionosphere and its dependence on solar activity is also discussed. However, due to the short time interval of the available data covering an insignificant part of the solar cycle, close to the minimum activity, our findings are not fully conclusive. No correlation was found between the cosmic ray flux and lightning activity given by the number of the discharges. However, some of the most energetic lightning discharges in the analyzed period occurred close to the minimum of the solar activity and their appearance is discussed.

Due to its small intensity, ionospheric scintillation at the mid-latitudes is difficult to observe. The measurements of signal amplitude scintillation from GNSS in this region are almost impossible to perform with sufficient quality. The European interferometer LOFAR observing in the frequency range 10-90 MHz, provides a good opportunity to carry out complex studies on the ionospheric scintillation in the mid-latitudes. In this work, we show statistical analysis of amplitude scintillation intensity described by the S4 index as well as spectral parameters given from specially designed pipelines dedicated to computing and analyzing spectra obtained with a single LOFAR station and ILT observation. We also show temporal and spatial statistics for spectral index, Fresnel frequency, and noise level of measurement.

Changes in the stress field in Świebodzice Depression (ŚU) unit area are the reason of complex kinematics of the rock blocks consisting of rotations and horizontal/vertical displacements. The measurement system of the Geodynamic Laboratory in Książ, associated with rock blocks which are separated by faults, is a natural detector of tectonic activity. Installed in laboratory long water-tube gauges allowing to determine the functions of tectonic activity—TAF, and their derivatives. A comparison of the TAF with the seismic activity of the Fore-Sudetic Monocline showed that the strong seismic shocks (magnitude ≥3.6) occur in the Monocline only during defined and repeatable phases of the kinematic activity of the ŚU. Observed concordance proves the thesis of the existence of a large-scale, and largely homogeneous field of tectonic forces which, at the same time, cover the ŚU and the Fore-Sudetic Monocline units. The results of comparison between seismic events temporal distribution and phases of tectonic activity of the ŚU orogen indicate existence of the time relation between function of derivative of the tectonic activity (TAF) and seismic events.

Since the 1970-ties, large azimuth changes in the equilibrium of quartz horizontal pendulums have been irregularly registered in the Geodynamic Laboratory in Książ. However, azimuth changes of the pendulums did not correlate with meteorological phenomena and the compensation phases of these changes excluded processes of gravitational creep of the rock massif. It was assumed that changes of these azimuths result from tectonic tilt of the rock massif. These were the first observations of contemporary tectonic activity in the Świebodzice Depression (SW Poland). Multiannual observations have allowed for determining temporal and amplitude characteristics of such tectonic activity. Intervals of tectonic activity last from several days to two weeks and are separated by periods of low activity or even no activity. During tectonic events, amplitudes of rock massif deformation reach values of several tens of tidal amplitudes. The distinguished characteristics of tectonic effects and their incidental character have been confirmed by water-tube tiltmeters (WT) activated in the Geodynamic Laboratory in the early 2000s. Unique conditions of the rock massif cause that the WTs, in connection with blocks of the rock massif separated by faults, are natural detectors of tectonic activity, allowing to determine the function of tectonic activity and its derivatives in the surrounding areas.

Tiltmeter observations with application of horizontal pendulums have been carried out for 40 years in the Geodynamic Laboratory in Książ. Long-term observations have not indicated any correlation of these data with meteorological or seasonal phenomena. Following an epoch of fast azimuth changes, a gradual compensation process took place, excluding the effect of gravitational creep of the rock massif. An assumption was made that the observed large changes of the equilibrium azimuths of the horizontal pendulums that result from tectonic tilt of the foundation blocks. Multiannual tiltmeter observations allowed to determine the temporal characteristics and amplitude tectonic effects. Intervals of strong tectonic activity in the rock massif of the Świebodzice Depression last from several days to over ten weeks and are separated by several tens of hours of low activity. Amplitude of the rock massif deformation reaches values from over ten to several tens of amplitudes of the tidal signal, i.e. up to several hundreds of micrometres. Water-tube tiltmeters (WT) launched in 2003 have confirmed the characteristics of tectonic effects and their incidental occurrence. Beside the tilt effects, WT have enabled to confirm vertical movement of the foundation blocks. Geological investigations in the Świebodzice Depression have indicated the presence of a numerous faults separating particular blocks in the rock massif. The presence of this fault system favours the dislocation of foundation blocks, which results in a quake-less relaxation of tectonic stresses and absence lack of seismic activity in the Świebodzice Depression. Foundation blocks separated by faults combined with the multiscale measurement system of WTs form a natural detector of regional tectonic activity, allowing to determine with micrometric resolution the representative function of tectonic activity in the rock massif of the Świebodzice Depression.