Question
What is a RESP file?
Answer
A RESP file is an ASCII representation of SEED instrument response information. Generally RESP files only contain the subset of SEED headers that represent an instrument response, they do not contain station coordinates or other metadata available in SEED headers. SEED, and consequently RESP, can contain comprehensive response details that represent all aspects of the recording of a time series. Each step in the recording process is represented by a stage in the response sequence including analog sensors, digitization and digital filters. A single RESP usually contains the response information for a single channel for one or more time ranges (epochs), but a file may also contain the response information for many channels.
RESP files structure SEED response information by rows identifying a SEED Blockette and field number followed by its description and value. These readable and easily editable files are commonly used as input to programs that evaluate the response such as evalresp, JEvalResp, and JPlotResp.
How to get RESP files
The rdseed and PDCC programs can both generate RESP from SEED volumes. RESP is also available via the DMC’s IRIS resp webservice and can be downloaded through the FetchResp utility, Nominal Response Library, and IRIS DMC FTP holdings. Please see the linked Related Articles for software and access details.
Query for RESP using the SeismiQuery BREQ_FAST form.
