An Interdisciplinary Site Suitability Analysis for Cosmic Explorer

Document #:

CE-P2500005-v1

Document type:

P - Publications

Abstract:

This investigation focused on a suitability analysis conducted by the Cosmic Explorer geographic information systems (GIS) team at the University of Arizona. Cosmic Explorer (CE) is the next generation gravitational wave observatory that will be constructed in the US. CE is based on the LIGO Livingston and Hanford concept but scaled up by a factor of 10. Existing LIGOs in the U.S. are about four kilometers in length for each arm. CE is planned to be 40 kilometers in length for each arm. GIS is a platform that integrates geospatial data for analysis and management. GIS is extremely well suited for site suitability analysis because it focuses on spatial data. CE is currently in the process of selecting promising sites across the US. This analysis set acceptable thresholds across 91 interdisciplinary factors to search for promising areas that CE can fit in the contiguous United States.

Files in Document:

• NSA (11).pdf (12.1 MB)
• NSA (9).pdf (12.1 MB)

Topics:

• Site Selection

Authors:

• Warren Bristol
• Chris Lukinbeal
• Joseph Hoover
• Kathryne J Daniel
• Piper Sledge
• Josh Russell
• Matthew Evans

Associated with Events:

held on 14 Jul 2025 in Scottish Exhibition Center