Broadband Platform v11.2.3

Overview

The goal of the SCEC Broadband Simulation Platform is to generate broadband (0-10 Hz) ground motions for earthquakes using deterministic low-frequency and stochastic high-frequency simulations. The SCEC Broadband Platform is a collaborative software development project involving SCEC researchers, graduate students, and the SCEC/CME software development group. SCEC scientific groups have contributed modules to the Broadband Platform including rupture generation, low-frequency deterministic seismogram synthesis, high-frequency stochastic seismogram synthesis, and non-linear site effects. These complex scientific codes have been integrated into a system that supports easy on-demand computation of broadband seismograms.

Capabilities

The platform provides multiple approaches for generating the rupture description, modeling high- and low-frequency wave propagation, and incorporating site amplification effects. These codes have been validated against recorded ground motions from real events. A user can select which combination of approaches to use and simulate an earthquake, producing seismograms which include high and low frequency data. Ultimately these seismograms can be used to improve ground motion attenuation models, resulting in more accurate predictions of future ground motions for building engineers.

The SCEC Broadband Platform is designed to be used by both scientific and engineering researchers. Users may calculate broadband seismograms for both historical earthquakes (validation events including Northridge, Loma Prieta, and Landers) and user-defined earthquakes. Users may select among various codebases for rupture generation, low-frequency synthesis, high-frequency synthesis, and incorporation of site effects, with the option of running a goodness-of-fit comparison against observed or simulated seismograms. The platform produces a variety of data products, including broadband seismograms, rupture visualizations, and goodness-of-fit plots.

The Broadband Platform was implemented using software development best practices, including version control, user documentation, and acceptance tests, with the aim of ease of use. Users can install the platform on their own machine, verify that it is installed correctly, and run their own simulations on demand without requiring knowledge of any of the code involved. Users may run a validation event, supply their own simple source description, or provide a rupture description in SRF format. Users may specify their own list of stations or use a provided list. Currently the platform supports stations and events in Southern California, the Bay Area, and the Mojave.

The SCEC Broadband Platform is designed to

More details about the SCEC Broadband Platform are posted on the CME web site: SCEC Broadband Platform