PROPOSAL INFORMATION SUMMARY
1.
2.
Regional Panel Destinations:
Project Title:
3.
Principal Investigator(s):
4.
Authorized Institutional
Representative:
6.
Element Designation
7.
8.
9.
10
Key Words
Amount Requested
Proposed start date
Proposed Duration
NIW
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and
Existing ANSS Site Assessments
John N. Louie
Tel.: (775) 784-4219, Email: louie@seismo.unr.edu
University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
Fax: 775-784-1833
Cindy Kiel
Director, Office of Sponsored Project Admin.
University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
Tel.: (775)784-4040, Fax (775)784-6064
Email: ckiel@unr.edu
This project supports Elements I & III with “research that
contributes to improvements in the national hazards maps and to
assessing earthquake hazards and reducing losses in urban
areas,” and by investigating possible ground-shaking effects in
the Reno urban area. It also supports “Priority Topics in
Research on Earthquake Effects” by improving “site
characterization for building code and other applications.” The
project also meets two of the goals stated in the “Priorities in the
National/Intermountain West (NIW)” Nevada section, among
which are to: 1) “construct/improve 3D velocity models needed
for waveform modeling of the effects of basin- and near-surfacegeology for Reno-Carson City, … and incorporate results into the
Community Velocity Model;” and 2) “prepare scenario ground
motion models based on waveform modeling for earthquakes on
major faults affecting Reno/Carson.” One result of this project will
be a complete community velocity model for the Reno/Carson
region, made available to all interested researchers.
Site effects, Seismic zonation, Engineering seismology
$45,096
January 1, 2007
1 year
11
New Proposal
Yes
12
Active Earthquake-related
Research: Grants, and Level of
Support
13
Has this proposal been
submitted to any other agency
for funding?
Dept. of Energy/Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy:
Assembly of a crustal seismic velocity database for the
western Great Basin, $219,417, 4/1/2002–10/1/2005,
Louie (1.5 summer months total).
Dept. of State/Fulbright New Zealand: Developing a Wellington
Community Seismic-Hazard Modeling Environment,
Fulbright All Disciplines Partial Maintenance Research
Award #5146 to New Zealand, 2/1/2006-7/31/2006,
Louie (sabbatical leave support).
No
2
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and Existing
ANSS Site Assessments
John Louie
Seismological Lab, University of Nevada, Reno
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Application for Federal Assistance, Standard Form (SF) 424 ...................................... 1
Proposal Information Summary ................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents........................................................................................................ 3
Abstract....................................................................................................................... 4
Budget Summary ........................................................................................................ 5
Detail Budget .............................................................................................................. 6
Project Description
Motivation ........................................................................................................ 7
Project Objectives ........................................................................................ 7
Preparatory Research and Collaborations .................................................... 9
Vetting of Larsen’s E3D code ....................................................................... 10
Project Plan ...................................................................................................... 10
Figures ............................................................................................................. 13
Collaborating UNR Efforts ................................................................................ 16
Letters from External Collaborators .................................................................. 17
References ...................................................................................................... 19
Final Report and Dissemination of Results.................................................................. 20
Project Personnel........................................................................................................ 21
Institutional Qualifications ........................................................................................... 23
Project Management Plan ........................................................................................... 23
Current and Pending Support...................................................................................... 24
3
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and Existing
ANSS Site Assessments
John Louie
Seismological Lab, University of Nevada, Reno
ABSTRACT
This one-year project will develop 3-d scenario earthquake-shaking models for
Reno, Nevada’s 15-km-wide and 1.5-km-deep basin. The project will capitalize on
previously completed Vs30 assessments of all ANSS recording sites, a transect of fifty
Vs30 measurements west-to-east across the basin, and a preliminary program of 3-d
ground-motion modeling. These efforts have accompanied our development of trial 3-d
community shear-velocity models that include basin structures as well as highly variable
geotechnical properties affecting the uppermost model zones. Vs30 reliably varies by a
factor of two within basins across distances of less than 300 m, leading to lateral Vs
contrasts of up to 20% in the 100-to-250-m-thick surface zones of the models.
We propose to compute synthetic ground-shaking time histories throughout the
basin for several likely earthquake scenarios affecting Reno. The computed synthetics
will be available on a grid spanning the basin at a spacing of 100 m. Computations will
include a Q model and frequencies up to 1 Hz. We will employ Larsen’s E3D modeling
code, which has been vetted by comparisons at SCEC in 1997 and PEER/NGA in 2004,
on UNR’s 30-CPU computational cluster. The community models and the time-history
grids we develop will be made available on a web site together with open-source
software that creates a complete community seismic modeling environment. Better
scenario shaking predictions assist in the creation of a seismic shaking amplification
map for the Reno urban area, one of the top priorities for the NEHRP-NIW program.
ANSS recordings have shown us already that the Reno basin can greatly
increase the duration of ground motions, and preliminary 3-d modeling suggests that
our present velocity model gets the amplitudes and durations of a few seismograms
about right. Thus it is not necessary for this project to wait for additional studies of
crustal or basin structure to refine the predictions. Rather, we will get first-order results
now to study the 3-d scenario’s first-order consequences for public safety.
4
BUDGET SUMMARY
Project Title:
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and Existing ANSS Site Assessments
Principal Investigators: John N. Louie
Proposed Start Date:
Jan. 1, 2007
COST CATEGORY
1. Salaries and Wages
Total Salaries and Wages
2. Fringe Benefits/Labor Overhead
3. Equipment
4. Supplies
5. Services or Consultants
6. Radiocarbon Dating Services
7. Travel
8. Publication Costs
9. Other Direct Costs
10. Total Direct Costs (items 1-9)
11. Indirect cost / General and
Proposed Completion Date: Dec. 31, 2007
Federal
First Year
$ 23,390
Federal
Second Year
$0
$ 23,390
Total
Both Years
$ 23,390
$ 23,390
$ 2,059
$0
$ 2,059
$0
$0
$0
$ 2,500
$0
$ 2,500
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$ 600
$0
$ 600
$ 1,000
$0
$ 1,000
$ 2,250
$0
$ 2,250
$ 31,799
$0
$ 31,799
$ 13,297
$0
$ 13,297
$ 45,096
$0
$ 45,096
$ 45,096
$0
$ 45,096
Administrative (G&A) cost
12. Amount Proposed (items 10 & 11)
13. Total Project Cost (total of Federal and nonFederal amounts)
5
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and Existing ANSS
Site Assessments
University of Nevada, Reno Budget, Louie
Proposed start date:
1/1/07
Budget Prepared: 4/20/06 J. Louie
NEHRP-NIW
UNR Year 1 Total:
SALARIES
Employee
John Louie
Student-Academic Yr
Student-Summer
Undergraduate labor
Subtotals
Total Salary and Fringe
45096
Units
Daily
Monthly
Monthly
hourly
Rate
Number
5
10
1
120
550
1600
3200
12
Subtotal
2750
16000
3200
1440
23390
Benefit Rate
0.04
0.1
0.1
0.02
Benefits
110
1600
320
29
2059
25449
SUBCONTRACTS
0
Subcontracts Total
EQUIPMENT
0
Unit Cost
Quantity
0
Equipment Total
Consultants Total
0
0
Expendables
Lab & Computer Supplies
Computer Services
Publication Costs
3500
1500
1000
1000
Travel
Dest
Rate
Number
AGU or SSA
600
1
Additional Student Expenses
Tuition and Fees per year (18 credits)
Subtotal
600
125
Total Direct Cost
Total:
Number
18
600
2250
31799
Indirect Cost Computation
Total Direct Cost
Subtract Tuition & Fees
Subtract Equipment
Adjusted Total
Fraction
Indirect Cost
31799
-2250
0
29549
0.45
13297
Year One Total
45096
6
Improving Reno Hazard Maps with 3-D Scenario Modeling and Existing
ANSS Site Assessments
John Louie
Seismological Lab, University of Nevada, Reno
Motivation
This proposal directly addresses Element I of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake
Hazards Program (EHP) as “research that contributes to improvements in the national hazards
maps and to assessing earthquake hazards and reducing losses in urban areas;” and Element III
by investigating possible ground-shaking effects in the Reno urban area. “Priority Topics in
Research on Earthquake Effects” that this proposal addresses include seismogram synthesis for
“3D basin effects,” “improve observations relevant to the shaking behavior of near-surface
materials in high-risk urban areas,” and “improve site characterization for building code and
other applications.”
The project also works toward two of the goals stated in the “Priorities in the
National/Intermountain West (NIW)” Nevada section, which are to: 1) “construct/improve 3D
velocity models needed for waveform modeling of the effects of basin- and near-surface-geology
for Reno-Carson City, … and incorporate results into the Community Velocity Model;” and 2)
“prepare scenario ground motion models based on waveform modeling for earthquakes on major
faults affecting Reno/Carson.” An additional result of this project will be a complete community
velocity model for the Reno/Carson region, made available to all interested researchers.
By improving our understanding of expected ground motions the expected results of
the proposed research will directly apply to reducing losses from earthquakes in Reno.
Reno is particularly important as a rapidly growing community, in a location where the seismic
hazard is known to be high.
Project Objectives– Following the work of Frankel et al. (2005) for Seattle, we will
provide results that will contribute to seismic hazard assessment for Reno, Carson City, Tahoe,
and the eastern California – western Nevada region. These results will include site response,
basin effects, and scenario earthquake-rupture parameters. We will develop site- and sourcespecific amplification factors from 3D finite-difference simulations, at 0-1.0 Hz, for a half-dozen
scenario earthquakes.
In this one-year project, we do not seek to compare modeled amplification factors or time
histories against ground-motion recordings. Preliminary 3-d time-history computations
employing our community velocity model by Pancha et al. (2004, 2006) have already shown that
we can make a first-order match to amplitudes and durations of ground-motion recordings up to
0.5 Hz. Further comparisons could be tackled by one of the parallel NEHRP projects submitted
by UNR, if funded; or be the subject of a follow-on project. Pancha et al. (2004, 2006)
determined that Reno ANSS records can yield spectral values above noise to frequencies as low
as 0.3-0.5 Hz. The synthetics we will produce, with an upper frequency limit of 1.0 Hz, will thus
have spectra that can be compared against portions of the data spectra. We seek in this project to
create a first-order set of synthetic time histories to study the first-order aspects of the shaking
hazards in the Reno basin.
We will take advantage of site-conditions measurements collected recently at most ANSS
stations in Reno by Pancha et al. (2005; fig. 1 below), and across the Reno basin by Scott et al.
(2004). These measurements yielded depth-averaged shear velocity values to 100 m depths
7
(Vs100) as well as Vs30 values. Figures 2 and 3 show trial Vs30 and amplification maps,
respectively, for Reno based on test interpolations of measurements at 67 sites.
Our regional Reno/Tahoe velocity grids have had zone spacing as small as 250 m
(Pancha et al., 2004, 2006), which in this project we will reduce to 100 m or smaller. Local Reno
grids modeling events below the Reno basin will have zone spacing as small as 50 m. A lateral
change in Vs30 from 600 to 300 m/s (observed across 300 m distances in parts of the Reno basin
by Scott et al., 2004), averaged by slowness with a 600 m/s basin shear velocity from 30 to 100
m depth, will produce a 22% change in the velocity of the 100-m-thick upper zone of the
computation grid, from 600 to 462 m/s.
Trial computations for the Las Vegas basin by Louie et al. (2006) have suggested that a
model with pervasive lateral heterogeneity at the surface can trap additional energy, even at a
relatively low frequency of 0.5 Hz. The scattering and trapping leads to amplification, over a
model with a laterally homogeneous basin surface zone, of several times the 20% variability in
zone velocity. For this reason we feel that it is important to test model grids that respect the
variations in Vs30 and Vs100 measured within the Reno basin.
Scott et al. (2004) showed that correlation between surface geology and shallow Vs exists
in only a general sense– Vs measurements on Tertiary andesites in Reno are often (but not
always) higher than Vs measurements on basin sediments. Having 50 sites measured across the
basin, they could draw no reliable predictive correlations between Vs30 and mapped Neogene
basin geological units or soil units. The observed scatter in Vs30 within geological units, and the
complete lack of measurements for some geological units, motivated Pancha’s efforts to directly
measure site conditions at every ANSS station in Reno (fig. 1).
These measurement efforts are yielding constraints on shear velocity to at least 100 m
depth. Our Vs measurement database at www.seismo.unr.edu/vs/archive shows Vs100 values (1d shear-velocity average to 100 m depth) for every one of the 67 sites, and whether constraints
extend down to 200-300 m depths, which they occasionally do. Our knowledge of shear velocity
in the basin is very limited below 200 m depths. Some information can be drawn from Abbot and
Louie’s (2000) definition of the depth to a Tertiary diatomite/sandstone unit from deep well logs,
and from hydrologic and structural investigations carried out by Clark et al. (2005) and Washoe
County.
It is possible that the relatively high velocity of the Tertiary basin fill (Pancha et al.,
2006; fig. 1 here) may not allow a large velocity contrast at the basin floor. One of the objectives
of our proposed modeling will be a suite of sensitivity tests on the basin-floor contrast. It should
be possible for us to define the minimum bedrock/basin shear-velocity ratio that still allows the
prominent 3-d basin effects to arise. Our community seismic model assembler, being rule-based,
is amenable to creating such suites of trial models.
We will refine our modeling for the shallow site response of artificial fill and Holocene
alluvium and lacustrine deposits using vertical S-wave propagation through soil with linear
rheology only. Frankel et al. (2005) used this strategy in Seattle to extend finite-difference
computations up through columns of soft soil. Nonlinear effects are generally assumed to not
have a strong influence on the frequencies to be modeled in this project.
The various scenario earthquakes we will model include M6.0-7.5 ruptures on: the Genoa
“fault system” including the Mount Rose fault zone (partly shown on fig. 1), the Kings Canyon
fault zone, and the Genoa Fault; the West Tahoe-Dollar Point fault zone; the Olinghouse fault
zone; the Warm Springs Valley fault zone; the Pyramid Lake fault zone; and a selection of subM6.0 events such as the 2000 Truckee earthquake (modeled in figures 4 and 5). The most
8
hazardous scenarios will be selected based on the reports available from
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/qfaults/ and in consultation with local experts such as C.
dePolo (of dePolo et al., 1997). We will examine the results of the scenario models for indicators
of site-response variation due to differences in the direction of the earthquake source, as well as
due to variations in source parameters and rupture models, for the larger events.
Ruptures on scenario normal faults such as the Genoa–Mt. Rose system and the West
Tahoe would put a sedimentary basin in the hanging wall above at least part of the rupture. We
will not attempt to model any inertial effects such as “fault fling” or any dynamic decrease in the
fault’s transmissivity to seismic waves due to fault opening. But our modeling will include
conversion and entrapment of energy within the basin directly above the rupture.
We seek to produce average basin amplification maps in the manner of Olsen (2000), by
computing a grid of synthetics spanning the Reno basin. Amplifications will be calculated by
applying the site- and source-specific shaking amplitudes we will derive relative to calculations
using just the background velocity model for rock. Future Reno-area probabilistic seismic hazard
maps that are developed specifically for long periods and that incorporate basin amplification
can eventually use this information. Follow-on projects may undertake these tasks.
Preparatory research and collaborations– We have already constructed a 3-d velocity
model for the Reno basin and surrounding region based on gravity results (Abbott and Louie,
2000), geological information, and our trial geotechnical maps (Louie et al., 2005). These
velocity models are in a form correct for direct input to the E3D synthetic seismogram code of
Larsen et al. (2001), used in a study of the San Francisco Bay Area by Stidham et al. (1999). We
are using Larsen’s E3D code because of its long pedigree and cross-verifications against other
seismic modeling codes with SCEC and the NGA project.
Recently the Nevada Seismological Lab completed a collaboration with UCB and UNLV
in a 4-year project sponsored by Lawrence Livermore National Lab on “3-D Evaluation of
Ground-Shaking Potential in the Las Vegas Basin”. In that project Dr. Larsen collaborated with
PI Louie in 2002 to establish a facility at UNR where E3D could run fairly large models.
Modeling results for Las Vegas have been summarized by Larsen (2002), Concha-Dimas et al.
(2002), Rodgers et al. (2003), Pancha et al. (2003), and Louie et al. (2004b, 2005, 2006).
Although Larsen has moved to an atmospheric hazards and modeling project at LLNL, the Lab
has since allocated considerable resources toward further development of E3D seismic modeling
codes. Still, in an effort to avoid some of the pitfalls of 3-d ground-motion modeling, PI Louie
has established external collaborations with Dr. Kim Olsen of SDSU, and with Dr. Rafael
Benites of GNS Science in Wellingoton, New Zealand (where until Aug. 2006 Louie is
developing a Wellington community seismic modeling environment for ground-motion studies
as a Fulbright Senior Scholar).
Figures 4 and 5 show an example E3D computation on the Reno-region model from
Pancha et al. (2004, 2006), using our 30-CPU facilities at the Collaboratory for Computational
Geosciences (CCoG; www.unr.edu/ccog) and the Nevada Environmental Computing Grid
(NECG; www.aces.dri.edu). All data and software needed for others to run the preliminary
version of the Reno/Carson-region community velocity model is available in the
ModelAssembler package we have posted at www.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/#ma .
Pancha et al. (2004, 2005, 2006) found that ratios of the observed spectra at sites within
the Reno basin, relative to a reference rock site, generally show factors of two or larger
amplification at 2 Hz, as well as greatly increased duration. The increase in duration cannot be
9
matched by 1-d or 2-d models, and is a unique feature of the 3-d models created with
ModelAssembler and run in Larsen’s E3D.
Vetting of Larsen’s E3D code– A group combining D. Dreger of UCB and S. Larsen of
LLNL compared E3D modeling results in the March 24-25, 2004 NGA Workshop as part of the
PEER/SCEC 3D Ground Motion Project Team led by S. Day. Slide 7 of
http://peer.berkeley.edu/NGA_program/Mar04/3-DBasinEffects_SD.ppt shows remarkable
agreement at 2-sec period between E3D’s finite-difference synthetics and CMU’s finite-element
synthetics. Dreger and Larsen also participated in the 3D Modeling Workshop sponsored by N.
Abrahamson and SCEC which was held in Santa Ana, October 2-3, 1997. Their work on 3-d
modeling and synthetics for the San Francisco Bay region was published in BSSA by Stidham et
al. (1999). Larsen’s E3D computation platform has proven to be a reliable seismic synthetic
generator for more than a decade.
Project Plan
We propose to compute synthetic time histories (seismograms) for the 0-1.0 Hz
frequency band across regional 3-d models for a half-dozen scenario earthquakes affecting Reno,
Tahoe, eastern California, and western Nevada. PI John Louie and a graduate student will
perform the research:
1. We will assemble a background crustal and basin model for the region, including new
refraction results (e.g., Louie et al., 2004a).
a. Louie et al. (2006) have created a crustal-thickness map for the Great Basin and
northern Sierra by combining new and old data under a consistent scheme of
selection of refraction results, where the results from different techniques
disagree. In the Reno area and east through the Walker Lane, new and old
measurements agree well. Louie et al. (2004a) proposed a 50-km-deep Sierran
root west of Reno. The community velocity model will allow this feature to be
included or not, so its effects on wave propagation into the Reno basin can be
tested.
b. Results of collaborating projects doing 3-d tomography of the region (noted
below) will be included when available.
2. Where more detailed 3-d basin geometries are available, such as the Reno gravity work
of Abbott and Louie (2000) and the Basin and Range map of Saltus and Jachens (1995,
east of Reno), these details will be inserted into the model. Figure 4, top left, shows a
map representation of a combined regional and detailed basin model.
a. Preliminary models for southern Nevada, including the dozens of basins in the
region that surround both the source faults and Las Vegas, suggest their presence
traps additional energy into basins and substantially changes how seismic energy
arrives at the urban basin and converts at its boundary (Louie et al., 2006). This is
one of the factors in the complete dependence of our preliminary results on source
azimuth and location (Pancha et al., 2004; Louie et al., 2004b, 2005, 2006) that
lead us to propose to model specific, hazardous scenarios for Reno.
b. Our model of the Reno basin itself is constrained by well data in some areas, but
the deepest sub-basin (west side of the city, fig. 4 top left) is only constrained to
be deeper than 860 m at one deep drillhole. While some gravity models put the
10
sub-basin’s depth at 2.5 km, we will use the 1.5-km maximum depth from Abbott
and Louie’s (2000) 2-d gravity model. Results from a collaborating project (noted
below) that will profile the central part of the Reno basin will be included when
available.
3. Where geotechnical data are available, we will build Vs30 models to constrain the upper
zones of the 3-d model. Figure 2 shows a trial geotechnical map interpolated from the
data in figure 1 (Pancha et al., 2005) and the transect results in Scott et al. (2004).
a. Outside the data-rich Reno basin, we will adjust the default bedrock and basin
Vs30 values to the averages of all bedrock and basin Vs30 measurements in the
region, as Louie et al. (2005, 2006) did for a Las Vegas model. About twenty
Vs30 measurements have been made in this region outside the Reno basin by
UNR, and the models will include all known Vs30 values.
b. However, geotechnical information outside the Reno basin is very sparse and our
assembled models will show fairly laterally homogeneous upper grid zones for
basins and bedrock outside Reno, with detailed and heterogeneous upper zones in
and around Reno.
4. We will integrate our ModelAssembler, the Western Great Basin Community Velocity
Model (CVM), and their associated databases for Nevada into the SCEC Community
Modeling Environment (CME).
a. Collaborator K. Olsen of SDSU has offered to advise us on this integration.
b. Our
ModelAssembler
and
CVM
(available
from
www.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/#ma) are at present standalone applications
configured to run on the Nevada Environmental Computing Grid (NECG) web
portal. SCEC’s CME, implemented as a series of web services, is flexible enough
to allow them to be included as alternative applications.
c. To the extent necessary, we can implement SCEC’s CME and web services at
UNR. The Nevada Seismological Lab already has the CCoG Linux cluster, Sun
workstations, experimental web servers, and other facilities needed to establish
new web services. Along with the computation tasks, the need to implement
SCEC’s web services for this project is the justification for the moderate amount
of computing support requested in the budget.
5. We will select a half-dozen of the largest and most frequent earthquakes affecting the
Reno region from the database of the National Seismic Hazard Maps.
a. For most of these event scenarios, we will have to propose simple, trial models of
source parameters, slip distributions, and rupture. We will assemble a suite of
scenarios, wherein we evaluate variations in source parameters for each source
fault system. We expect to compute a few sub-scenarios for each main scenario,
to try to represent some of the ranges of rupture parameter values proposed by
various workers.
b. Collaborators K. Olsen of SDSU and R. Benites of GNS Science in New Zealand
have volunteered to assist us in preparing and checking the source and rupture
parameters input to our synthetic computations.
11
c. All scenario and sub-scenario results will be made available for probabilistic
computations, so the sub-scenarios can be assigned individual likelihoods if the
community deems it reasonable to do so.
6. Each rupture scenario will be computed across the combined local/regional 3-d model
with the E3D code (Stidham et al., 1999; Larsen et al., 2001) on our CCoG/NECG cluster
facility of 30 AMD Athlon CPUs having a total of 60 Gb of RAM.
a. We anticipate being able to model from 0 Hz to an upper limit of 1 Hz at least.
With a minimum upper grid-zone shear velocity of 400 m/s, the E3D code needs
at least 5 grid intervals per 400-m wavelength at 1 Hz in the upper zones, to avoid
grid dispersion artifacts. A 100-km N-S by 70-km E-W by 40-km deep grid could
include the Reno basin and several source fault zones and regional basins. At 80m spacing, this grid has 547 million zones and would require a total of 13.7
gigabytes of RAM to run. Preliminary runs (e.g., Pancha et al., 2004, 2006) show
that dividing a parallel E3D run among CCoG CPUs so that it requires 1 Gb of
RAM out of each CPU’s 2 Gb is fairly efficient. Thus this 1-Hz model including
low geotechnical velocities can be run in parallel on just 14 of CCoG’s 30 CPUs.
b. The example 0-0.6 Hz computations shown in figure 4 did not come close to the
limits of our facility. Larsen has already parallelized his E3D code, and the
preliminary examples run by Pancha et al. (2004, 2006) on CCoG have tested this
capability. Our facility has sufficient RAM to complete each 1-Hz model. Each
model is expected, on the basis of our preliminary work, to run in less than 3 days
when done in parallel. The twenty or so models we expect to run at full resolution
will require less than 60 days wall-clock time on the CCoG/NECG facilities.
c. We will include finite Q estimates in the computations. This E3D feature has been
tested by Pancha et al. (2004, 2006) on CCoG/NECG. We plan to implement
general rules in ModelAssembler relating Qs to Vs and Qp to Vp from global
averages, as Benites and Olsen (2005) did for their Wellington, New Zealand
modeling.
d. Some sub-scenarios will be run on SCEC cluster facilities, with the help of K.
Olsen of SDSU. Olsen’s seismic-modeling code will also be used on the
CCoG/NECG facility to run some sub-scenarios, for cross-comparisons.
7. We anticipate that the lowest surface shear velocity on an 80-m-spacing E3D
computation grid will be about 300 m/s. For areas of the geotechnical model having
lower velocities (orange in figure 2) due to low-velocity surface layers less than 50 m
thick, vertical S-wave propagation of the E3D synthetic time-histories through 1-d soil
models with linear rheology will be needed to approximate the effects of the surface
layers thinner than the 80-m grid spacing (Frankel et al., 2005).
a. We will feed all the E3D time histories through this spectral filter for consistency
(tailored to each receiver location’s geotechnical properties), and save both the
raw E3D results and the filtered time-histories.
b. Filters for results modeling all ANSS stations will be based on direct geotechnical
measurements. Filters for result-grid locations not directly measured will be
estimated from interpolated nearby geotechnical results.
8. We will evaluate the synthetic time histories for amplification to 1.0 Hz, relative to real
and synthetic rock sites, producing average basin amplification maps for Reno in the
12
manner of Olsen (2000). Our evaluations will also look at PGV, PGA, and spectral ratios
from 0.3-1 Hz, as done for the 2000 Truckee event by Pancha et al. (2004, 2006).
9. We will post all models, model assembly software, grids, synthetic time histories, maps,
and amplification results on the website www.seismo.unr.edu/hazsurv . The website will
allow users to register their interests and provide feedback on the utility of the site’s
resources for their work. We will keep registration information confidential if requested,
but provide statistical summaries of users, their interests, and responses to the USGS and
to our collaborators, initially in our Final Project Report before April, 2008.
10. We will make presentations at AGU, SSA, SCEC, Nevada Earthquake Safety Council,
and AEG regional-chapter meetings; and submit results for publication in a peerreviewed journal. To conserve funds, we will participate by teleconference when
possible, and ask UNR colleagues traveling to some meetings to present results from this
project as well as from their own.
Fig. 1: Map of the Reno, Nevada area showing topography, fault traces from the USGS
Quaternary database (red lines), major highways, and the locations of 15 ANSS ground-motion
stations (small squares) measured for Vs30 recently by Pancha et al. (2005). At these stations, the
station designation is labeled and Vs30 is given in m/s. Note the low Vs30 values found at
candidate “bedrock” stations such as RFMA, RF08, NOAA, SWTP, and SKYF; all are well
below the NEHRP BC stiff-soil/soft-rock boundary value of 760 m/s (BSSC, 1998). Vs100
values measured for these stations are closer to the expected high velocities.
13
Fig. 2: Assembled trial geotechnical-velocity model for the Reno-area basin, showing Vs30
interpolated from all 67 Vs30 measurements in the area. 52 are from Scott et al. (2004) along the
Truckee River transect; the remainder are from Pancha et al. (2005). Geologic classification of
NEHRP velocities (according to the designations in BSSC, 1998, and similar to Wills et al.,
2000) is used where no measurement is within 1.5 km. Light blue areas are NEHRP BC-boundary
bedrock, imposed where defined by the basin gravity model of Abbott and Louie (2000), not from
geological maps. The interpolated Vs30 values respect this basin/bedrock boundary.
Fig. 3: Trial amplification map for Reno computed using the So. Calif. equation of Field (2000,
2001) that includes the effects of both Vs30, from fig. 2 above, and the basin depth modeled from
gravity analysis by Abbott and Louie (2000). Although the basin is deeper west of downtown
Reno (>1.5 km) than it is east in Sparks, stiff Tertiary diatomites and Quaternary boulder
outwashes underlie the alluvium on the west side of the basin (Scott et al., 2004).
14
Fig.4: Preliminary 1-Hz synthetic time-history computation for a Feb. 2000 Truckee event. The
three maps all cover the same Reno/Tahoe region. At top left is a map showing the assembled
regional seismic velocity model, with default depth profiles for basins surrounding Reno and
detailed basin geometry for Reno from Abbott and Louie (2000). Top right is a map of maximum
ground velocities from a 3-d elastic finite-difference model at 0.6 Hz using the E3D code of
Larsen et al. (2001). Below is an E3D time slice at 19.5 s after the earthquake origin time,
showing the Rayleigh wave entering the Reno basin. In this image black denotes zero ground
velocity, red E-W ground velocity, green N-S, yellow NW-SE or NE-SW, blue is up-down
ground velocity, and white is ground velocity on all three components. Note the strong
contributions from scattering of surrounding basins. Animations are downloadable from
www.seismo.unr.edu/ccog .
15
Figure 5: Modeled ANSS seismograms for Reno at 0.6 Hz, compared to data, from Pancha et al.
(2006). RF10 is located on bedrock. The colored background highlights stations within the basin,
in order of increasing sediment depth. 1D and 3D synthetics are shown along with the ANSS
data. The 3D finite difference synthetics match the durations of the data (as in A) and may
anticipate some of the later arrivals (as in B).
Collaborating UNR Efforts
Several projects at and around the Nevada Seismological Lab are concerned with crustal
structure and earthquake shaking in the Reno area:
 PI Louie is conducting long-range crustal refraction surveys and assembling velocity models
acress the Great Basin with graduate student Michelle Heimgartner under DOE Geothermal
Program sponsorship (e.g., Louie et al., 2004a, 2005).
 Louie has created an archive of shallow shear-velocity profiles under USGS and DOE
sponsorship, where interactive maps can be used to access complete velocity-profile data at
http://mapserver.library.unr.edu/website/seismoweb/VS30/viewer.htm
16



John Anderson, Rasool Anooshehpoor, Glenn Biasi, and graduate student Aasha Pancha are
characterizing ANSS recording sites in the Reno area, and collecting ANSS data to determine
empirical site response and to improve our capability to predict ground motions in the basin
in general, under USGS sponsorship (e.g., Pancha et al., 2004, 2006). PI Louie has also been
involved in these efforts, which used E3D to compute the preliminary synthetic time
histories..
David Von Seggern and Leiph Preston are conducting crustal tomographic inversions and
event relocations from regional earthquake phase data.
Cathy Snelson of UNLV, Pat Cashman of the UNR Geological Sciences and Engineering
Dept., and Louie are conducting a 7-km-long reflection/refraction survey across the center of
the Reno basin under Washoe County sponsorship.
Letters from External Collaborators
April 28, 2006
To Whom It May Concern:
I have accepted to participate in Professor John Louie’s project on simulating 3D wave
propagation and estimating ground motion in the Reno area. In particular, I plan to verify the
synthetic seismograms produced by the E3D code implemented on the Linux Cluster in Reno
with those produced by my own fourth-order finite-difference code which has been validated
through exercises within the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) and the Pacific
Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER, Lifelines) program. Here, I will implement my code to
be used freely on the Reno Cluster, if that turns out to be most desirable code in terms of
scalability and optimization.
After the code validation I will provide guidance on the implementation of physically realistic
earthquake source functions. Research within SCEC, including the most recent large-scale
TeraShake simulation project, has shown the importance of the earthquake source specification,
such as variability of rise time, slip and rupture velocity. I will introduce standard formats for the
source, and methods for generating source time functions for various scenarios used within
SCEC.
When designing relevant earthquake scenarios for the Reno area, I will introduce the concept of
a community modeling environment (cme), where researchers or engineers with different
background are able to do the modeling themselves, using user-friendly IT tools available on the
web. Such tools, which have been a great success within SCEC and are currently being extended
to areas like the Wasatch Front in Utah with funds from the NEHRP, are key to optimal use of
the modeling capabilities in Reno.
If this project is funded, Professor Louie and I will develop a collaboration where information on
site-specific model properties, such as Vs30 and their importance in modeling will be openly
shared for the different modeling environments in the western US, such as Utah, Nevada and
California, and well as areas in other countries such as New Zealand, where common modeling
17
grounds include the Wellington area. Such collaboration will ensure homogeneity in the
modeling environments and sharing of new findings.
I am excited about the prospects of this collaboration and strongly recommend that funding is
provided by NEHRP if at all possible. My contribution will be provided with no charge to the
project.
Sincerely,
Kim Olsen
Associate Professor,
San Diego State University
From Dr. Rafael Benites (r.benites@gns.cri.nz), GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, 1 May
2006
May 1 2006
To the panel of NIW, Nevada Section
The 3-D earthquake modeling proposed by Professor John Louie’s is an essential step towards
understanding the seismic wave propagation from several earthquake scenarios and
characterising the effects of local site conditions on strong ground motion in the Reno urban
area. In New Zealand, and particularly in the Wellington Metropolitan Area, which is crossed by
the Wellington Fault, we have undertaken the task of improving the Hazard estimation in the
region by establishing research programmes on three major topics: Paleo-seismology, synthetic
seismicity and earthquake scenario 3-D modelling within a major programme called “It is our
fault”, funded by our Earthquake Commission. The 3-D modeling up to 1.5 Hz, with syntheticobservation comparisons, is regarded as the first step towards building a broad-band frequency
response of the area. Thus, Professor’s Louie’s project will also be of great interest to us and, in
general, to the community of researchers that model seismic wave propagation in realistic
geological settings sharing the state-of-the art developments and technology associated with the
Finite Differences Method. I strongly recommend its funding by NERHP.
I have accepted an offer to collaborate with professor John Louie on wherever he may think my
experience on the Wellington region model is of value, at no cost.
Sincerely yours
Rafael Benites
18
References:
Abbott, R. E., and J. N. Louie, 2000, Depth to bedrock using gravimetry in the Reno and Carson City,
Nevada area basins: Geophysics, 65, 340-350.
Benites, Rafael, and Kim B. Olsen, 2005, Modeling strong ground motion in the Wellington metropolitan
area, New Zealand: Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 95, 2180–2196.
Building Seismic Safety Council– BSSC, 1998, 1997 Edition NEHRP Recommended Provisions for
Seismic Regulation for New Buildings: FEMA 302/303, developed for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Washington, D,C.
Clark, M., Louie, J., Pancha*, A., Scott*, J., and Heath*, K., 2005, Geophysical investigation of a fault as
a hydrologic barrier in Reno, Nevada: presented at the Seismol. Soc. of Amer. Ann. Mtg., Lake
Tahoe, Nevada, April 26-29.
Concha-Dimas, Aline, Tiana Rasmussen, John N. Louie, Shane Smith, and Wes Thelen, 2002, Las Vegas
Basin Seismic Response Project: Developing a community velocity model for NTS and Las
Vegas: presented at Amer. Geophys. Union Fall Mtg., Dec. 9, San Francisco; EOS Trans. Amer.
Geophys. Union, 83, suppl. to no. 47 (19 Nov.), F1055.
dePolo, C. M., J. G. Anderson, D. M. dePolo, J. G. Price, 1997, Earthquake occurrence in the Reno–
Carson City urban corridor: Seismol. Res. Lett., 68, 401-412.
Field, E. H., 2000, A modified ground-motion attenuation relationship for Southern California that
accounts for detailed site classification and a basin-depth effect: Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 90, no.
6B, S209–S221.
Field, E. H., 2001, Earthquake ground-motion amplification southern California: U.S. Geol. Surv. OpenFile Rept. 01-164, map poster.
Frankel, A.D., Stephenson, W.J., Hartzell, S., Carver, D.L., Odum, J.K., Williams, R.A., and Rhea, S.,
2005, Probabilistic seismic hazard maps for Seattle incorporating site response, sedimentary basin
effects, and rupture directivity: Seismol. Soc. Amer. Annual Meeting, April 26-29, Lake Tahoe,
Nevada.
Larsen, S., Wiley, R., Roberts, P., and House, L., 2001, Next-generation numerical modeling:
incorporating elasticity, anisotropy and attenuation: Soc. Explor. Geophys. Ann. Internat. Mtg.,
Expanded Abstracts, 1218-1221.
Larsen, S. C., 2002, Las Vegas Basin Seismic Response Project: 3-d finite-difference ground motion
simulations: Eos Trans. AGU, 83(47), Fall Meet. Suppl., Abstract S12B-1188.
Louie, John N., Weston Thelen, Shane B. Smith, Jim B. Scott, Matthew Clark, and Satish
Pullammanappallil (2004a), The northern Walker Lane refraction experiment: Pn arrivals and the
northern Sierra Nevada root: Tectonophysics, 388, no. 1-4, 253-269.
Louie, John N., Aasha Pancha, Glenn P. Biasi, Weston Thelen, James B. Scott, Mark F. Coolbaugh, and
Shawn Larsen, 2004b, Tests and applications of 3-d geophysical model assembly: presented at
Great Basin and Range Evolution and Kinematics Workshop, Tahoe City, Calif., June 20-23.
Louie, J. N., Pancha, A., Biasi, G. P., Heimgartner, M., Coolbaugh, M. F., Larsen, S. (2005), Tests and
applications of 3-d geophysical model assembly in the Great Basin: Seismol. Soc. Amer. Annual
Meeting, April 26-29, Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Louie, J., M. Heimgartner, A. Pancha, W. Thelen, J. Scott, and C. Lopez, 2006, A matter of scale:
understanding Nevada’s sedimentary basins for seismic hazard assessment: presented at Seismol.
Soc. Amer. Ann. Mtg. and the Managing Risk in Earthquake Country Conference
Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake, April 18 - 22, San Francisco,
Calif.
Olsen, K. B., 2000, Site amplification in the Los Angeles Basin from three-dimensional modeling of
ground motion, Bull. Seis. Soc. Amer., 90, no. 6B, S77-S94.
Pancha, A., J. N. Louie, and J. G. Anderson, 2003, Las Vegas Valley seismic response project:
quantification of basin response using 2-d finite-difference ground motion simulations: presented
at Amer. Geophys. Union Fall Mtg., San Francisco, Dec. 8-12.
19
Pancha, A., J. G. Anderson, J. N. Louie, A. Anooshehpoor, and G. Biasi, 2004, Data and simulation of
ground motion for Reno, Nevada: Proceedings of the 13th World Conf. on Earthquake
Engineering, Vancouver, B.C., Aug. 1-6, paper no. 3452.
Pancha, A., J. G. Anderson, F. Su, A. Anooshehpoor, G. Biasi, and J. Louie, 2006, Characterizing seismic
hazard in the Basin and Range province: Case study for Reno, Nevada: Proceedings of the
Managing Risk in Earthquake Country Conference Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the
1906 Earthquake, April 18 - 22, San Francisco, Calif., 10 pp.
Rodgers, A., D. McCallen, S. Larsen, H. Tkalcic, L. Hutchings, C. Snelson, W. Taylor, B. Luke, J.
Anderson, and J. Louie, 2003, The Las Vegas Valley seismic response project: presented at Geol.
Soc. Amer. Ann. Mtg., Seattle, Nov. 2-5.
Saltus, R. W., Jachens, R. C., 1995, Gravity and basin-depth maps of the Basin and Range Province,
Western United States: U.S. Geol. Surv. Geophysical Investigations Map, GP-1012, 1:2,500,000,
1 sheet.
Scott, J. B., M. Clark, T. Rennie, A. Pancha, H. Park and J. N. Louie, 2004, A shallow shear-wave
velocity transect across the Reno, Nevada area basin: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer., 94, no. 6 (Dec.),
2222-2228.
Scott, J. B., T. Rasmussen, B. Luke, W. Taylor, J. L. Wagoner, S. B. Smith, and J. N. Louie, 2006 in
press, Shallow shear velocity and seismic microzonation of the urban Las Vegas, Nevada basin:
Bull.
Seismol.
Soc.
Amer.,
96,
no.
3
(June).
(On
line
at
www.seismo.unr.edu/hazsurv/2005044_Scott-pp.pdf)
Stephenson, W. J., J. N. Louie, S. Pullammanappallil, R. A. Williams, and J. K. Odum, 2005, Blind
shear-wave velocity comparison of ReMi and MASW results with boreholes to 200 m in Santa
Clara Valley: Implications for earthquake ground motion assessment: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer.,
95, no. 6 (Dec.), 2506-2516.
Stidham, C., Antolik, M., Dreger, D., Larsen, S., Romanowicz, B., 1999, Three-dimensional structure
influences on the strong-motion wavefield of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake: Bull. Seismol.
Soc. Amer., 89, 1187-1202.
Thelen, W. A., M. Clark, C. T. Lopez, C. Loughner, H. Park, J. B. Scott, S. B. Smith, B. Greschke, and J.
N. Louie, 2006 in press, A transect of 200 shallow shear velocity profiles across the Los Angeles
Basin:
Bull.
Seismol.
Soc.
Amer.,
96,
no.
3
(June).
(On
line
at
www.seismo.unr.edu/hazsurv/thelen-et-al-pp.pdf)
Wills, C.J., Petersen, M., Bryant, W.A., Reichle, M., Saucedo, G.J., Tan, S., Taylor, G., and Treiman, J.
(2000). A site-conditions map for California based on geology and shear-wave velocity, Bull.
Seis. Soc. Amer., 90, no. 6B, S187-S208.
FINAL REPORT AND DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS
All reports requested and required by the USGS will be submitted in a prompt and timely
manner and the results of the research will be published in a professional journal. The trial
community models and the synthetic time-history grids will be available at the end of the project
year on a website much like the shear-velocity archive at www.seismo.unr.edu/vs/archive . All
data and software needed for others to run the preliminary version of the Reno/Carson-region
community velocity model will be available in updated ModelAssembler packages we will post
at www.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/#ma . The availability of these results will be announced to
seismologists and earthquake engineers at the 2007 AGU Fall Meeting. Colleagues downloading
our software, databases, and results, and using our version of the SCEC CME web services, will
be offered the opportunity to register their interests and report their satisfaction with how project
results meet their needs. Statistical summaries of such usage information will be included in the
project final report.
20
PROJECT PERSONNEL
This study will be conducted by principal investigator John Louie, Associate Professor of
Seismology, at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Biographical Sketch of John N. Louie
Seismological Laboratory 174, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering
The University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0141
(775) 784-4219; fax (775) 784-1833; louie@seismo.unr.edu
Professional Experience
Professor of Seismology, Seismological Laboratory and Department of Geological Sciences and
Engineering, The University of Nevada, Reno; promoted July 2006; Assoc. since 1992.
Responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate instruction, supervision of M.S. and Ph.D.
degree candidates, and conducting a research program in seismology.
Assistant Professor of Geosciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Penna.; Sept.
1987 to Jan. 1992.
Recent Graduate Theses Directed
M.S. Thesis in Hydrogeology by Matthew Clark on ``Hydrologic and geophysical investigation
of a fault as a hydrologic barrier in Reno, Nevada'' defended on 26 Oct. 2005.
Ph.D. Thesis in Geophysics by Robert E. Abbott on ``Geophysical constraints on seismic hazard
and tectonics in the western Basin and Range'' defended on 23 Aug. 2001.
Ph.D. Thesis in Geophysics by Abu M. Asad on ``Linearized and nonlinear travel time
tomography for upper crustal velocity structure of the western Great Basin'' defended on 23 Jan.
1998.
M.S. Thesis in Hydrogeology by Ken Mela on ``Interpretation of stochastic hydrogeologic
properties from seismic data'' defended on 14 Nov. 1997.
Ph.D. Thesis in Geophysics by Sergio Chavez-Perez on ``Enhanced imaging of fault zones in
southern California from seismic reflection studies'' defended on 4 Aug. 1997.
Selected Recent Sponsored Research
Developing a Wellington community earthquake hazard modeling environment, Fulbright Senior
Scholar Award to New Zealand, US Dept. of State, 2/2006-7/2006, sabbatical support.
Improving next-generation attenuation models with shear-velocity measurements at all TriNet
and strong-motion stations in LA, sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey under contract
05HQGR0078, 2/2005 – 1/2006 for $54,000.
3-D Evaluation of Ground-Shaking Potential in the Las Vegas Basin, sponsored by the U.S. Dept.
of Energy/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 5/2002 - 9/2005 for $330,000 between 2 PIs.
Assembly of a crustal seismic velocity database for the Western Great Basin, sponsored by the
U.S. Dept. of Energy/Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy 4/2002-9/2006 for $302,668.
Improving southern California seismic hazard models with a 45-km shear-velocity profile along
the San Gabriel River, sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey under contract 03HQGR0068, 2/1/2003 1/31/2004 for $52,000 between 2 PIs.
Establishment of a Center for Computational Geosciences, sponsored by the Nevada Applied
Research Initiative and Optim LLC 5/2002 - 5/2003 for $50,000.
Evolution of the Sierra Nevada - Basin and Range boundary — tephrochronologic and gravity
constraints on the record in Neogene basin deposits, sponsored by the National Science Foundation
6/2000-5/2002 for $55,182 between 3 PIs.
21
Graduate Education
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Degrees: Ph.D. Geophysics, June, 1987; M.S.
Geophysics, June, 1983.
Relevant Publications
W. A. Thelen, M. Clark, C. T. Lopez, C. Loughner, H. Park, J. B. Scott, S. B. Smith, B. Greschke, and J.
N. Louie, 2006 in press, A transect of 200 shallow shear velocity profiles across the Los Angeles
Basin: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer., 96, no. 3 (June). (On line at www.seismo.unr.edu/hazsurv/thelen-etal-pp.pdf)
J. B. Scott, T. Rasmussen, B. Luke, W. Taylor, J. L. Wagoner, S. B. Smith, and J. N. Louie, 2006 in
press, Shallow shear velocity and seismic microzonation of the urban Las Vegas, Nevada basin: Bull.
Seismol. Soc. Amer., 96, no. 3 (June). (On line at www.seismo.unr.edu/hazsurv/2005044_Scott-pp.pdf)
W. J. Stephenson, J. N. Louie, S. Pullammanappallil, R. A. Williams, and J. K. Odum, 2005, Blind shearwave velocity comparison of ReMi and MASW results with boreholes to 200 m in Santa Clara Valley:
Implications for earthquake ground motion assessment: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer., 95, no. 6 (Dec.),
2506-2516.
J. B. Scott, M. Clark, T. Rennie, A. Pancha, H. Park and J. N. Louie, 2004, A shallow shear-velocity
transect across the Reno, Nevada area basin: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer., 94, no. 6 (Dec.), 2222-2228.
A. Pancha, J. G. Anderson, J. N. Louie, A. Anooshehpoor, and G. Biasi, 2004, Data and simulation of
ground motion for Reno, Nevada: presented at 13th World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering,
Vancouver,
B.C.,
Aug.
1-6,
paper
no.
3452.
(On
line
at
www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/papers/pancha-etal-13wcee.pdf)
Other Important Publications
J. N. Louie, W. Thelen, S. B. Smith, J. B. Scott, M. Clark, 2004, The northern Walker Lane refraction
experiment: Pn arrivals and the northern Sierra Nevada root: Tectonophysics, 388, no. 1-4, 253-269.
(On line at www.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/walker.html)
J. N. Louie, S. Chavez-Perez, S. Henrys, and S. Bannister, 2002, Multimode migration of scattered and
converted waves for the structure of the Hikurangi slab interface, New Zealand: Tectonophysics, 355
(1-4), 227-246.
R. E. Abbott, J. N. Louie, S. J. Caskey, and S. Pullammanappallil, 2001, Geophysical confirmation of
low-angle normal slip on the historically active Dixie Valley fault, Nevada: Jour. Geophys. Res., 106,
4169-4181.
J. N. Louie, 2001, Faster, better: shear-wave velocity to 100 meters depth from refraction microtremor
arrays: Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer., 91, no. 2 (April), 347-364.
R. E. Abbott and J. N. Louie, 2000, Depth to bedrock using gravimetry in the Reno and Carson City,
Nevada area basins: Geophysics, 65, 340-350.
Synergistic Activities
JRG, an open-source, menu-driven seismic processing package: www.seismo.unr.edu/jrg .
ModelAssembler, velocity gridding for the Great Basin: www.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/#ma .
Applied
Geophysics
course
with
1-week
field
camp
and
on-line
exercises:
www.seismo.unr.edu/ftp/pub/louie/class/492-syll.html .
Service on IRIS Standing Comm. managing the PASSCAL nat’l facility, Dec. 2000–Dec. 2003.
22
Institutional Qualifications– UNR
As one of the statewide research agencies of the University of Nevada, the Seismological
Laboratory is headed by a Director (J. Anderson) who reports to the Dean of the College of Science. The
Lab's current research staff consists of nine professional seismologists. Other professionals include a
Research and Design Engineer. Technical staff members include two seismographic technicians, one
record analyst, 2.0 FTE of computer systems personnel, and six graduate research assistants. The
Seismological Laboratory operates the Western Great Basin Seismic Network (USGS Funding; digital
upgrades provided by the W.M. Keck Foundation) and the Yucca Mountain Digital Seismic Network
(DOE-HRC Funding). These networks now include more than four dozen state-of-the-art high-dynamicrange real-time digital stations. Twenty-four ANSS strong-motion stations have been established as well
in the Reno, Carson, and Las Vegas urban areas. Earthquake data are manipulated using the Antelope and
CSS database systems developed by BRTT, allowing us to interchange both real-time and archived
catalog and seismogram data with the CISN, Oregon, Arizona, and Utah seismic networks through data
centers at Caltech, Menlo Park, Berkeley, San Diego, and Salt Lake City, as well as with the Earthscope
observatory. Much of the high-dynamic-range digital station data are archived in real time at the IRIS
Data Management Center.
In partnership with the Nevada Applied Research Initiative, Lawrence Livermore National Lab,
and Optim LLC, the Seismo Lab established the Collaboratory for Computational Geosciences (CCoG;
www.seismo.unr.edu/ccog) facility in October 2002, a 30-CPU Beowulf parallel processor with 60-Gbyte
RAM. CCoG is primarily dedicated to seismogram inversion and modeling, and runs Larsen’s E3D
viscoelastic seismic modeling code from LLNL through the aces.dri.edu Nevada Environmental
Computing Grid web portal.
Additional computer hardware consists of four Sun servers and twenty Sun workstations with
speeds up to 1 GHz, ten Pentium II-IV and AMD Athlon UNIX workstations, and numerous PCs and
Macintoshes. These processors are used mainly for research applications and provide a basis for analysis
of the accumulating network data base. One of the servers hosts the Lab's web site www.seismo.unr.edu,
which is one of the University's most popular public outreach programs at 30,000-300,000 hits per day.
Seismic reflection data sets are processed both with John Louie's open-source JRG system for research
(www.seismo.unr.edu/jrg), and with the industry-standard Halliburton ProMAX system.
The University is wired for 100 Mbps full-duplex ethernet, with high-speed gigabit connections
available to all servers. All buildings on campus connect via a gigabit fiber network, which has a fiber
connection at 155 Mbps to the nearest CALREN/vBNS/Abilene gigaPoP at U.C. Davis, and a 655 Mbps
connection to Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and CALREN at UCSD in southern California.
Project Management Plan
The project is projected to last one year. PI Dr. John Louie will be responsible for the completion
of all tasks, completion of the project, and submittal of required reports. The expected schedule
of milestones is:
Jan. 1, 2007– Funding and project activities commence. 20 hr/week support of graduate student
on the project commences.
April 1, 2007– Completion of Western Great Basin CVM updates with new crustal tomography,
basin geometry, and geotechnical measurements available. Initiation of regular face-toface (if possible) or teleconference consultations with collaborators K. Olsen and R.
Benites. Completion of initial tests of installation of Olsen’s modeling code on
CCoG/NECG. Completion of outline of SCEC CME web services implementation at the
Nevada Seismological Lab.
23
June 1, 2007– Completion of initial E3D runs for 1-Hz Reno synthetics, and delivery to
collaborators for checks. Completion of definition of scenarios and sub-scenario source
and rupture parameters.
Sept. 1, 2007– Completion of main scenario and sub-scenario computations. Submittal of an
abstract to Fall AGU Meeting on project progress and resources available to the
community. Completion of cross-checks by Louie and by collaborators of source
parameters and the 1-Hz synthetic time-history results, and any needed corrections to the
main runs.
Dec. 1, 2007– Submittal of Annual Project Summary to the USGS.
Dec. 31, 2008– Completion of project. Presentation of results and announcement of web
databases at 2007 Fall AGU Meeting. Completion of web databases and setup of user
registration and comment facilities. Completion of graduate-student support by the
project. Submittal of manuscript discussing results to a peer-reviewed journal.
March 31, 2008– Submittal of Final Project Report to the USGS, including an initial statistical
summary of web user responses.
Current Support and Pending Applications — John N. Louie
Current:
Dept. of Energy/Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe: Geothermal assessment of Pyramid Lake Paiute ReservationPhase 2 Task A- Structural controls and regional synthesis, $35,959, 10/25/2004–6/1/2006,
Faulds, Louie (0.25 summer month total).
SCEC/NSF: Site-condition measurements at precariously balanced rocks constraining ruptures on the
Elsinore and San Jacinto faults, $7999, 2/1/2005 – 9/30/2006, Louie (0.05 summer month),
Brune, Anooshehpoor.
Dept. of Energy/Great Basin Center for Geothermal Energy: Continued implementation of a database of
crustal geophysical controls on geothermal resource assessment, $81,211, 7/1/2005–9/30/2007,
Louie (0.1 summer month).
Dept. of State/Fulbright New Zealand: Developing a Wellington Community Seismic-Hazard Modeling
Environment, Fulbright All Disciplines Partial Maintenance Research Award #5146 to New
Zealand, 2/1/2006-7/31/2006, Louie (sabbatical leave support).
Pending:
USGS-NEHRP: Improving Reno hazard maps with 3-d scenario modeling and existing ANSS site
assessments, $45,096, 1/1/2007 – 12/31/2007, Louie (0.2 summer month).
USGS-NEHRP: Collaborative research with CGS: Improving hazard maps and NGA models with Vs
measurements at 50 CISN stations in San Bernardino and Riverside, $73,299, 1/1/2007 –
12/31/2007, Louie (0.25 summer month).
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