Geophysicist Lassina Zerbo, head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), discusses the goals of the organization, and how researchers are using his organization's data, reports Nature.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was designed in the 1990s to end the testing of nuclear devices. To set up a mechanism for enforcing the treaty, the CTBTO, based in Vienna, has been building a global network of monitoring stations that could detect any violations. CTBTO has also opened up its data to scientists, with applications from tracking large storms or clouds of volcanic ash to monitoring the drift of large icebergs.