NORSAR History
Below are some of the milestones from NORSAR's more than 50 years of history.
1968: NORSAR is founded
A Government-to-Government agreement comes into effect between Norway and the USA.
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1970: NTNF
NORSAR becomes a project of the Royal Norwegian Council for Industrial and Scientific Research.
1970: NOA seismic array
The NOA seismic array near Hamar in southeast Norway is completed.
1973: ARPANET
NORSAR becomes the first non-US node on ARPANET, the predecessor to today's Internet.
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1975: Seismiske risikoanalyser
NORSAR gjennomfører det første forskningsprosjektet innen seismisk risiko.
1978: Seismic Modelling
NORSAR establishes Seismic Modelling as a new research activity.
1984: NORES seismic array
The NORES seismic array near Hamar in southeast Norway is completed.
1985: Seismic hazard
Major increase in seismic hazard research and consultancy activities.
1987: ARCES seismic array
The ARCES seismic array near Karasjok in Finnmark, northern Norway is completed.
1988: Commercial software
Commercial software development within Seismic Modelling was started.
1992: SPITS seismic array
The SPITS seismic array near Longyearbyen, Svalbard is completed.
1992: NORSAR-2D
First release of the NORSAR-2D seismic modelling software package.
1996: NORSAR-3D
NORSAR releases the first version of the NORSAR-3D seismic modelling software package.
1996: Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
1999: Norway ratifies the CTBT
The Norwegian Government ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
1999: Independent foundation
NORSAR becomes an independent research foundation on July 1st.
2000: NOA seismic array
The NOA seismic array (PS27) is formally certified as the first IMS station.
2001: ARCES seismic array
The ARCES seismic array (PS28) is formally certified after a major upgrade of the station.
2003: ICG
NORSAR becomes a partner of the ICG - International Centre of Geohazards.
2003: RN49 radionuclide station
The radionuclide station near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (RN49) is formally certified.
2005: Åknes geophone network
Geophone network installed at the Åknes unstable rock slide near Stranda, southern Norway.
2005: NORSAR Innovation
NORSAR Innovation AS is established to market and sell NORSAR's commercial software packages.
2006: JMIC seismic station
The seismic station at Jan Mayen (AS73) is formally certified.
2007: SeisRoX
Programpakken SeisRoX™ lanseres.
2007: SPITS seismic array
SPITS seismic array near Longyearbyen, Svalbard is certified.
2011: CO2 storage monitoring
First major microseismic monitoring project on CO2 storage, In Salah, Algeria
2011: Geothermal system
First real-time microseismic monitoring project on geothermal stimulation, Australia.
2012: Antarctic seismic station
NORSAR installs a seismic station at the Norwegian base Troll in the Antarctic.
2014: IS37 infrasound array
NORSAR's infrasound station IS37 (IMS station I37NO) at Bardufoss in northern Norway is officially opened.
2016: NORSAR-3D on MS Windows
NORSAR releases the first MS Windows version of the NORSAR-3D software package.
2022: HSPA seismic array
The HSPA seismic array near Hornsund, Svalbard is completed.