The AutoDRM software was developed at the SED in the early 1990s in the context of the scientific work to prepare the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, mainly by Urs Kradolfer. It is an email-based data exchange software that became a widely used and supported standard in seismology for many years. While in the scientific community AutoDRM has now largely been replaced by modern webservices, the software is still used for message-based data exchange at the CTBTO International Data Center. The description below and the original code are provided mainly for historical reasons. The text was last modified in 2003.
An AutoDRM (Automatic Data Request Manager) is a software package, that allows anyone with access to electronic mail to retrieve data from the site where such an AutoDRM is installed.
Check it out by sending an e-mail to: [mailaddress]@[of.an.autodrm.installation] with the text 'help'. You will then immediately and automatically get more information via e-mail. The Users Guide is also available here.
AutoDRM is now a widely used method to retrieve earthquake information (including waveform data) from seismological observatories. Besides the original 'standard' most AutoDRMs today understand requests in the so-called GSE2.0 format and their response mails are also in this format. The GSE2.0 format was developed by members of the GSE (Group of Scientific Experts at the Conference on disarmament), representatives of the FDSN (Federation on Digital Seismographic Networks), and representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey.
More information about the Swiss AutoDRM can be found in:
Kradolfer, U., AutoDRM - The First Five Years,
Seism. Res. Let., 67, pp. 30-33, 1996.
Kradolfer, U., Automating the Exchange of Earthquake Information,
EOS Trans. Amer. Geophys. U., vol. 74, pp. 442,444-445, 1993.
More information about the general AutoDRM message concept and a detailed description of the formats can be found on the Autodrm documentation page. The GSE2.0 format explained there is also supported by the Swiss AutoDRM.
There are some minimum requirements for all AutoDRM installations, which have been agreed on at several occasions by the seismological community.
The most important issue is, that each AutoDRM must send an answer to the word 'HELP' in the message body. Even if you operate an AutoDRM, where users have to be registered first, such an AutoDRM should respond to a HELP-message and tell the requestor, what has to be done in order to obtain data. Only AutoDRM installations, which fulfill this absolute minumum requirement, are entitled to have an e-mail address of the form autodrm@anyhost.anydomain.
For the 'Basic Message Support' and other minimum requirements, please check the Documentation page and specifically read Chapter 5 starting at page 125 (if you use AcrobatReader) or page 117 if you print this document.
It is especially important, that every AutoDRM returns waveform data in the GSE-format. Any other formats may also be supported, but it has been agreed that even a simple AutoDRM must support the GSE2.0/GSE2.1 format as the main format for all requests, as well as one of the ASCII sub-formats (INT, CM6, or AU6) for waveforms. Any other formats can be supported in addition.
There is a short User Guide available with examples of request mails for users of AutoDRM.
Documentation on how to install the software is provided further below.
The detailed formats of both the new AutoDRM message format as well as the full description of other formats (such as WAVEFORM, etc.) is available in a document by the GSE (Group of Scientific Experts at the Conference on Disarmament): FORMATS AND PROTOCOLS FOR DATA EXCHANGE (Conference Room Paper 243, Volume 2 Operations, Annex 3). This document is available as PDF here.
Issues related to AutoDRM are contained in the chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5. The format description of the GSE2.1 Format (1997) is available as PDF here.
The description on how to install the complete AutoDRM package is available in the ASCII file install_autodrm.txt, and the complete package is available as a compressed UNIX tar-file: autodrm_3.00beta.tar.tar (download and store this file locally on your computer).
The package runs on UNIX-Systems such as HP-UX, SunOS, Solaris, AIX, OSF1, and Linux and includes documentation on how to install the software. An initial version usually is installed within a few minutes.
The software is free, but if you feel it is appropriate, you may consider to pay back by citing one of the articles on AutoDRM, when you publish papers containing results where this software was useful to you:
Kradolfer, U., AutoDRM - The First Five Years,
Seism. Res. Let., 67, pp. 30-33, 1996.
Kradolfer, U., Automating the Exchange of Earthquake Information,
EOS Trans. Amer. Geophys. U., vol. 74, pp. 442,444-445, 1993.
New features of version V3.00beta (19 July 2003):
New features of version V3.00alpha (29 April 2002 - not widely announced):
New features of version V2.99 (12 May 2001):
New features of version V2.98 (23Mar2001):
New features of version V2.97 (21 March 2001):
New features of version V2.96 (18 February 2001):
New features of version V2.95 (08 August 2000):
Major new features of version V2.94 (03 June 2000):
New features of version V2.9 (17 June 98):
New features of version V2.84 (14 November 97):
New features of version V2.83 (4 May 97):