Earthquake Reconnaissance and Experiment Documentation
through Spherical Panoramic Photography
Fernando Garcia – University of California, Los Angeles – fernando.estefan.garcia@gmail.com
Project PI/Mentor: Dr. Robert Nigbor, Ph.D., P.E.
Introduction
Spherical panoramic photography is the
assembly of images to create a 360°x180° inside
view of a scene. It gives viewers the ability to:
•see a scene from miles away as if present,
•see details in all directions,
•make virtual tours of sites and experiments,
•and obtain visual data/metadata quickly.
This last ability is a critical challenge in
earthquake reconnaissance because industries
often become reluctant to allow visitors into their
sites soon after an earthquake (Global Risk
Miyamoto, 2007). Spherical panoramic
photography is an efficient tool to meet this
challenge.
Spherical panoramas also provide effective
metadata for earthquake engineering experiments.
Methodology
Resulting Product
Step 1: Capturing the Images
•
•
Take 360° of overlapping horizontal images using the panorama head.
Capture zenith (top image) and nadir (bottom image).
Step 2: PTGui
•
Stitch images together, remove unwanted objects, and export a flat
equirectangular panorama.
Figure 3: PTGui loading screen
A prototypical virtual tour of the NEES@UCSD
LHPOST Shake Table was created with the following
features:
•Full 360°x180° view.
•Ability to look straight up and down without visual
obstruction from the tripod.
•Ability to transition smoothly from the actuator bank to
the adjacent hallway and to the bottom of the shake
table in either direction.
•Zooming capability.
Figure 5: Stitching together images
Figure 4: Remove unwanted objects
The flat panoramas below are exports from PTGui. The photographs were taken from
underneath the NEES@UCSD shake table to document the table’s infrastructure.
Figure 9: View of nadir
without tripod
Figure 10: View of
zenith
Conclusion
Figure 6: The Accumulator Bank
Figure 1: The accumulator bank (top left) is connected to the shake
table (top right) through a hallway (bottom) in a virtual tour of the
NEES@UCSD shake table infrastructure.
Materials
Hardware
•DSLR camera with fisheye lens (Sony A65
w/15mm Sigma lens)
•Panoramic Tripod Head
Figure 2: Nodal Ninja 3 MKII
Tripod Head
Software
•Photoshop – to edit
images and fix final
product.
•PTGui – to stitch images
into equirectangular
panorama.
•Pano2VR – to output
panorama into Flash or
Quicktime format.
Figure 7: A Hallway
Spherical panoramas can be used for fast, efficient
earthquake reconnaissance as well as documentation
of labs and test procedures. Multiple panoramas linked
into a virtual tour, as was done at NEES@UCSD, can
give complete views of anything from entire buildings to
city blocks as if actually present. Spherical panoramic
photography as a new tool can assist in both
earthquake reconnaissance and documentation of
NEES and other earthquake engineering experiments.
Acknowledgements
Figure 8: Underneath the Shake Table
Step 3: Pano2VR
•
Turn flat panoramas into spherical panoramas and link them to create a virtual tour.
Literature Cited: Global Risk Miyamoto (2007) 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-Oki Japan Earthquake Reconnaissance Report,
New York.
The project was partially funded by EEC-1005054
and CMMI-0927178. The author would like to thank
Team Pano at UCLA: Dr. Robert Nigbor, Carlos
Mora, and Sophia Poulos, as well as Mr. Carel
Struycken for his help in using these programs.
Further Information
For further information, contact Dr. Robert Nigbor at
nigbor@ucla.edu.