The UK and Ireland Geophysical Array -- Concept and Design

Andrew Curtis; Karen Lythgoe; Stephen P. Hicks; Lidong Bie; Dominik Strutz; Emma Chambers; Brian Baptie; Dave Cornwell; Juliane Huebert; Jessica Irving; Glenn Jones; Sergei Lebedev; Walid Ben Mansour; Aideliz Montiel Álvarez; Stuart Nippress; Koen Van Noten; Tim Pharaoh; Romesh Palamakumbura; Nick Rawlinson; Pablo Rodriguez Salgado; James Verdon; Chuanbin Zhu; Wen Zhou; Jelle Assink; Ian Bastow; Dino Bindi; Tom Blenkinsop; Raffaele Bonadio; Michael Braim; Tim Craig; Elizabeth Day; Giovanni Diaferia; Stuart Dunning; Ben Edwards; Ake Fagereng; Stewart Fishwick; Amy Gilligan; David Green; David Healy; Anna Horleston; Mark Ireland; Jenny Jenkins; Jessica Johnson; Mike Kendall; Tom Kettlety; Duygu Kiyan; Paula Koelemeijer; Rita Kounoudis; Victoria Lane; Chuanchuan Lu; Fabrizio Magrini; Auggie Marignier; Carl Martin; Martin Möllhoff; Iain Neill; Andy Nowacki; Bob Paap; Simone Pilia; Sjoerd de Ridder; Elmer Ruigrok; Peidong Shi; Anna Stork; Alice Turner; Jim Whiteley; Anton Ziolkowski

doi:10.48550/arXiv.2602.20984

The UK and Ireland Geophysical Array -- Concept and Design

Andrew Curtis^* (Corresponding Author)
, Karen Lythgoe
, Stephen P. Hicks
, Lidong Bie
, Dominik Strutz
, Emma Chambers
, Brian Baptie
, Dave Cornwell
, Juliane Huebert
, Jessica Irving
, Glenn Jones
, Sergei Lebedev
, Walid Ben Mansour
, Aideliz Montiel Álvarez
, Stuart Nippress
, Koen Van Noten
, Tim Pharaoh
, Romesh Palamakumbura
, Nick Rawlinson
, Pablo Rodriguez Salgado

James Verdon, Chuanbin Zhu, Wen Zhou, Jelle Assink, Ian Bastow, Dino Bindi, Tom Blenkinsop, Raffaele Bonadio, Michael Braim, Tim Craig, Elizabeth Day, Giovanni Diaferia, Stuart Dunning, Ben Edwards, Ake Fagereng, Stewart Fishwick, Amy Gilligan, David Green, David Healy, Anna Horleston, Mark Ireland, Jenny Jenkins, Jessica Johnson, Mike Kendall, Tom Kettlety, Duygu Kiyan, Paula Koelemeijer, Rita Kounoudis, Victoria Lane, Chuanchuan Lu, Fabrizio Magrini, Auggie Marignier, Carl Martin, Martin Möllhoff, Iain Neill, Andy Nowacki, Bob Paap, Simone Pilia, Sjoerd de Ridder, Elmer Ruigrok, Peidong Shi, Anna Stork, Alice Turner, Jim Whiteley, Anton Ziolkowski

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geology and Geophysics

University of Edinburgh
University College London
University of East Anglia
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
British Geological Survey
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
University of Cambridge
Washington University St. Louis
AWE Blacknest
Royal Observatory of Belgium
University College Dublin
Northumbria University
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
Imperial College London
GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences
Sproule ERCE
University of Leeds
National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)
Newcastle University
University of Liverpool
University of Leicester
Durham University
University of Oxford
Australian National University
University of Glasgow
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
AtkinsRéalis

Research output: Working paper › Preprint

Abstract

Scientific exploration of the UK and Ireland's subsurface has made important contributions to scholarship and prosperity for people and the planet, including economic growth, sustainable use of natural resources, storage of greenhouse gases, and inspiring curiosity about the Earth beneath our feet. This article outlines a vision for an array of seismological instruments spanning the UK and Ireland, UKI Array, augmented by other types of geophysical sensors, to maximise the value offered by existing equipment pools. The mission is to research natural phenomena and structure in the deep and shallow Earth, to solve problems concerning hazards and resources, to connect scientists to schools and the broader public, and thus to inspire a new generation to learn about geophysics. The vision was created through a community driven process of engagement and participation. This paper describes the concept and design of the UKI-Array; a companion paper discusses related opportunities and potential applications.

Original language	English
Publisher	ArXiv
Number of pages	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.20984
Publication status	Published - 24 Feb 2026

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the British Geophysical Association for help initiating this community activity, and the Royal Astronomical Society for sponsoring the Discussion Meeting held at the society’s premises on 10th October 2025 which contributed greatly to the coordination of this article.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

physics.geo-ph

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10.48550/arXiv.2602.20984Licence: CC BY

2602.20984v1
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Final published version, 1.83 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Curtis, A., Lythgoe, K., Hicks, S. P., Bie, L., Strutz, D., Chambers, E., Baptie, B., Cornwell, D., Huebert, J., Irving, J., Jones, G., Lebedev, S., Mansour, W. B., Álvarez, A. M., Nippress, S., Noten, K. V., Pharaoh, T., Palamakumbura, R., Rawlinson, N., ... Ziolkowski, A. (2026). The UK and Ireland Geophysical Array -- Concept and Design. ArXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.20984

Curtis, A, Lythgoe, K, Hicks, SP, Bie, L, Strutz, D, Chambers, E, Baptie, B, Cornwell, D, Huebert, J, Irving, J, Jones, G, Lebedev, S, Mansour, WB, Álvarez, AM, Nippress, S, Noten, KV, Pharaoh, T, Palamakumbura, R, Rawlinson, N, Salgado, PR, Verdon, J, Zhu, C, Zhou, W, Assink, J, Bastow, I, Bindi, D, Blenkinsop, T, Bonadio, R, Braim, M, Craig, T, Day, E, Diaferia, G, Dunning, S, Edwards, B, Fagereng, A, Fishwick, S, Gilligan, A, Green, D, Healy, D, Horleston, A, Ireland, M, Jenkins, J, Johnson, J, Kendall, M, Kettlety, T, Kiyan, D, Koelemeijer, P, Kounoudis, R, Lane, V, Lu, C, Magrini, F, Marignier, A, Martin, C, Möllhoff, M, Neill, I, Nowacki, A, Paap, B, Pilia, S, de Ridder, S, Ruigrok, E, Shi, P, Stork, A, Turner, A, Whiteley, J & Ziolkowski, A 2026 'The UK and Ireland Geophysical Array -- Concept and Design' ArXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.20984

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abstract = "Scientific exploration of the UK and Ireland's subsurface has made important contributions to scholarship and prosperity for people and the planet, including economic growth, sustainable use of natural resources, storage of greenhouse gases, and inspiring curiosity about the Earth beneath our feet. This article outlines a vision for an array of seismological instruments spanning the UK and Ireland, UKI Array, augmented by other types of geophysical sensors, to maximise the value offered by existing equipment pools. The mission is to research natural phenomena and structure in the deep and shallow Earth, to solve problems concerning hazards and resources, to connect scientists to schools and the broader public, and thus to inspire a new generation to learn about geophysics. The vision was created through a community driven process of engagement and participation. This paper describes the concept and design of the UKI-Array; a companion paper discusses related opportunities and potential applications.",

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note = "Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the British Geophysical Association for help initiating this community activity, and the Royal Astronomical Society for sponsoring the Discussion Meeting held at the society{\textquoteright}s premises on 10th October 2025 which contributed greatly to the coordination of this article.",

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PB - ArXiv

ER -

The UK and Ireland Geophysical Array -- Concept and Design

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this