On the Specificity of Obtaining and Using Geophysical Monitoring Data (in Connection with the Article by A.V. Deshchervsky the Problem of Data Quality in Regional Geophysical Monitoring)

Abstract— The differences in the metrological support, problem statement, and practice of conducting measurements and using data in a typical physical experiment and geophysical monitoring are discussed. The strong difference in metrological support in these cases is consistent with the practice of using the results obtained. Due to the specific nature of the typical problem setting and use of geophysical monitoring data, the inevitable and poorly controlled errors in these data are relatively less detrimental to the use of the data than would be the case in typical physical surveys. Geophysical monitoring tools often track the behavior of highly nonequilibrium systems, often with a subcritical behavioral pattern, which leads to great variability in their behavioral pattern. Examples of false, but at the same time statistically significant anomalies are given. The features of using statistical approaches in the analysis of nonequilibrium systems with a subcritical nature of behavior are discussed; in this case, some standard statistical approaches may be incorrect.