UKM to install antenna at North Pole to detect quake
BANGI:
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) will set up a Global Positioning System receiver antenna at the North Pole to detect early signs of an earthqua
ke. UKM Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said the GPS receiver will be fixed in a position opposite to the GPS receiver antenna set up in 2002 at the South Pole. “We have installed a GPS receiver antenna at the South Pole and will fix another one at the North Pole and the position of both the antennas will enable research on early signs of an earthquake as well as signs of sun storms,” she told reporters at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (M0U) between UKM and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) here yesterday. Installation of the receiver antenna at a cost of RM200,000 will be done in August with cooperation of the Japanese National Polar Research Institute and the Science Institute of the Iceland University. Sharifah Hapsah said since the colossal tsunami of 2004 many quarters were interested in earthquake research and she. hoped the research would improve earthquake and tsunami forecasts. She said there will be consolidation of data on the electrons in the ionosphere, a layer in the atmosphere that contains ions, with the earth’s magnetic field data to identify early signs of earthquakes. The MoU between UKM and UTHM enables both varsities to cooperate in research and advanced degree education in aerospace. UKM was represented by Sharifah Hapsah and UTHM by its Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hashim Saim. -Bernama
