Luna 9615707 This project is for research planning, submitted in response to the Minority Research Planning Grant Program Announcement, NSF 94-147, to support preliminary studies related to the development of a competitive research project and proposal. During the past five years there have been a number of research initiatives to model the spatial distribution of geotechnical earthquake hazards. This interest in spatial hazard modeling was due primarily to the increased use of geographic information systems (GIS) by the engineering community. A GIS is an ideal platform to analyze spatial data and information that can aid in the decision making process of engineers and officials. On the other hand, agencies that respond to the catastrophes produced by these hazards have moved forward to implement disaster response systems that serve the areas in a state of emergency. An integration of these two approaches will incorporate engineering analyses into the procedures for mitigation and response of earthquake damage, injuries, and loss of life. The goal is to enhance an existing spatial analysis system that evaluates the potential for soil failure through liquefaction by adding a liquefaction deformation analysis capability and by introducing two additional hazards: ground motion amplification and slope instability. The overall goal is to study spatial geotechnical earthquake hazard models in the context of damage assessment and disaster (emergency) response systems. The following are the specific objectives for the first phase, namely proposal development, of this project: * Identify publications, research activities and individuals related to hazard modeling in the area of geotechnical earthquake engineering, and evaluate the implementation of these models in a spatial framework. A focus on liquefaction deformation analyses is anticipated. * Study the current development of damage assessment and disaster response systems, identify collaborators, system developers and establish contacts with national emergency agencies. * Evaluate the integration of the hazard modeling with disaster response systems. * Prepare a comprehensive proposal to NSF focused on the development of these geotechnical earthquake hazard modules and their use with damage assessment and disaster response systems.
