Special Session: USGS Seismic Hazard User-Needs
Type: Oral
Day: 5/17/2018
Time: 8:45 AM
Room: Hibiscus A
Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) earthquake hazards website, https://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/, is the central distribution point for the National Seismic Hazard Models (NSHMs), maps, and data for the United States and its territories. The website has evolved over time, moving increasingly from providing static data to delivering data and analyses dynamically through web-services and interactive web-applications. The tools we had historically supported (e.g. interactive deaggregations, custom hazard maps) were developed on an ad-hoc basis, with each having its own codebase, despite computing or providing similar and often related data. In 2017, we retired most legacy applications and replaced them with a new Unified Hazard Tool (UHT), https://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/interactive/. The UHT is built off a single codebase that provides hazard data, calculations and deaggregations and earthquake probabilities and rates via a single web interface. Moreover, the UHT provides access to the source and ground motion models (GMMs) in each NSHM, thereby making it easier than ever to access and evaluate these models. For example, it is now possible to query the magnitude frequency distributions associated with a specific source; it is also possible to compute deterministic response spectra using multiple GMMs. The tool is backed by web services that are open to access by third-party applications. We provide an overview of the features of the UHT and discuss our roadmap for adding new features and enhancements. Now that the UHT has been in deployed for over a year, we also seek feedback as to whether the tool is meeting user needs (i.e. has some feature of a retired tool not been adequately replaced by the UHT), and what features, changes, or enhancements are most desired by the community so that we may best prioritize our development efforts.
Author(s):
Powers P. M. USGS
Overview of the USGS Unified Hazard Tool
Category
USGS Seismic Hazard User-Needs