Atmospheric pressure effects on the tilt observation using the borehole tiltmeters seem to consist of the substantial part through actual ground deformation and the apparent part induced by the instrumental effect. So far as both parts are mixed, it is impossible to discuss the atmospheric pressure effects quantitatively. At first, the latter part must be eliminated by making its cause clear and improving necessary points. For this purpose, the following experimental investigations were carried out at Honkawane station.1) Sealing the observation well, gaseous pressure change was applied into the well to get the simultaneous tilt changes of 3.5 nano radian/hPa in NS component and 10.0 nano radian/hPa in EW component. Including polarities, these responses were almost as same as the atmospheric pressure admittances obtained by the previous study, 2) Keeping to seal and thermally insulating the top part of the well, routine observation was continued for about 20 days to find that the tilt change associated with atmospheric pressure change was drastically diminished.3) Hanging up the sensor vessel a few centimeters above the bottom of the well, pres-sure change was applied by changing the water level in the well to get the same as 1). The above experiments 1) and 2) were also performed at a few other stations, and similar tilt changes were detected. These results indicated that the most of the atmospheric pressure effects were caused by the sensor vessel deformation. So, as a next step, the reform of the vessel was planned on a few points to increase its rigidity, such as to fatten the vessel, to insert a metal block between the tiltmeter and the seismometer, which were linked together in the vessel and formed a long system. This reform was made at four stations by Feb., 1990. As a result, most of the pressure admittances were decreased to the values less than 1 nano radian/hPa and signal to noise ratios were greatly improved. Now, we can distinguish the tilt change associated with the atmospheric pressure induced ground deformation and evaluate them quantitatively.
抄録全体を表示