St. Louis Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping
Project
Planning Meeting
Thursday,
April 1,
2004; 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Chouteau
Room -
Millennium Hotel
St.
Louis, Mo.
Buddy Schweig, US Geological
Survey; Memphis, Tenn.: The deadline
for applications to the USGS External Grants Program is May 6, 2004.
The main
objective of the US Geological Survey's Internal Research Program on
central
U.S. earthquakes is to work with others to make probabilistic hazard
maps of 29
1:24,000-scale quadrangles in the St. Louis area, similar to the six
quadrangles
just finished in Memphis.
External proposals
pertinent
to this objective may
have a
better than average chance of success, but only if they are good
proposals
to start with. The RFP
describes
priorities (http://www.usgs.gov/contracts/nehrp/).
Past meetings about
this
project have been held in Memphis (June 2003) and in St. Louis
(September
2003). A similar project is also
getting underway in the Evansville, Ind. metro area.
Dave Rogers, University of MissouriÕs Natural
Hazards Mitigation
Institute; Rolla, Mo.: COSMOS
(Consortium of Organizations for Strong Motion Observation Systems) was
formed
in 1997 in Oakland, Calif., and has operated in California, Nevada,
Washington,
and Oregon. COSMOS has accumulated experience that will be valuable in
building
a database for the St. Louis mapping effort, particularly with respect
to
usability of the database, maintainable architecture, how to judge
quality of
entries, and how to fill data gaps with estimates that are derived from
analog
areas.
Since there is no
apparent
organization of, or clearinghouse for, a geotechnical database, Dave
recommends
that the COSMOS model be followed in the central U.S. COSMOS has
surveyed users
in all 50 states about their needs, and is trying to develop a protocol
architecture for possible use throughout the U.S. Potential users of
the COSMOS
database are extremely diverse.
This will help provide access to existing data for all users,
and, ultimately,
help the professional community advance the state-of-the-practice.
Some of the most
interested
parties are government agencies because only they typically maintain
large
databases, which are used for regulatory review, hazard/risk
evaluation, etc. The main uses of the
database so far
have been for geotechnical design, including for earthquakes. COSMOS
maintains
a Web portal through which users can access the databases that are
maintained
by member organizations.
Dave reviewed the
problems
that COSMOS has wrestled with and on which he can advise people working
on the
St. Louis mapping. The problem of maintaining a database is not yet
solved.
Dave emphasized that metadata are important in evaluating the data in a
database. Data types are varied.
COSMOS currently
encourages
their partners to put geodata and metadata in common format, post their
data on
their servers, maintain the database, and periodically update it. Metadata is important and includes
point of reference, point of origin, calibration & equipment specs,
methodology, site information, etc.
For example, the
Missouri
Department of Transportation (MoDOT) scans analog boring logs. The
Illinois
State Geological Survey (ISGS) database contains shear-wave velocities
(Vs) in
XML format, but not yet locations or depths at which those data were
collected.
Tennessee's database contains Vs in XML spreadsheets.
The most common
software
choice is ESRI ArcIMS as a front door. Dave forecast that all these
data, when standardized,
will become more valuable after a damaging earthquake when
straightforward risk
assessments are seen to have been wrong or oversimplified.
Mimi Garstang, Missouri State Geologist; Department of
Natural
Resources (DNR), Missouri Geological Survey; Rolla, Mo.: The Missouri
Geological
Survey has a grant from the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction
Program
(NEHRP) for Jim Palmer to compile existing borehole data [which had
been begun
by Dave Hoffman before he retired]. Discussion
followed of MoDOTÕs need for database format to be
compatible with its practice.
Dave Hoffman, Retired as of 3-31-04; Department of
Natural
Resources (DNR), Missouri Geological Survey; now Consultant; Rolla, Mo:
These
data may be quite compatible with COSMOS protocols, or could be made so
because
the data will be digital. Some are in DNR's files, but much needs to be
collected from the files of other organizations. Existing NEHRP funding
might
only suffice to get through MoDOT's data.
Mimi Garstang: The Missouri Geological Survey's advisory
committee
has suggested devoting some of the survey's mapping money to the St.
Louis area
next year, i.e. by the end of calendar 2005. Where in St. Louis will
depend
partly on whatever data gaps are identified by the present NEHRP grant.
The
Missouri Geological Survey's product MEGA (Missouri Environmental
Geologic
Atlas) has 16 layers of GIS information and may also have data to
incorporate;
Jim Palmer (Missouri Geological Survey) will be point-of-contact for
this
information.
SEVERAL
SPEAKERS: The ultimate
goal of the mapping and the hazard
maps is to include the effects of local soils, so as to make design
both more economical
and more effective in reducing losses. Ultimately this goal could guide
the
need for site-specific studies, and perhaps it could even affect
property
values.
Bob Bauer, Illinois State Geological Survey and the
Association
of CUSEC [Central US Earthquake Consortium] State Geologists;
Champaign, Ill. :
The ISGS collects geotechnical borehole data from firms and other
sources, and
verifies the locations at which data were collected, quadrangle by
quadrangle.
Results are in an Oracle database that the ISGS is now trying to make
accessible by outside users. Thus, the database will be compatible with
COSMOS,
but broader because, in addition to geotechnical data, the ISGS
database includes
other kinds of data such as oil and gas information. The Association of
CUSEC
State Geologists [CUSEC-SG] have NEHRP funding to collect more data for
the
Evansville and St. Louis metro areas. A CUSEC-SG proposal to work on
the
database was unsuccessful but they were invited to revise and resubmit
the
proposal. They coordinate new data-collection sites with the USGS.
Norm Hester, CUSEC Association of State Geologists;
Bloomington,
Ind.: Suggests collecting as much shear wave velocity data as
possible, which
was done in the State of Indiana in the past. This
was done because the 1997 NEHRP soil classifications do
not ÒfitÓ central US soil types.
It is suggested that effort should concentrate on the
Evansville, Ind.,
area.
John Baldwin, William Lettis & Associates; Walnut
Creek, Calif.: They have NEHRP funding to make liquefaction
susceptibility maps within the
St. Louis metro area. Five maps
are in progress, mostly in Illinois within the St. Louis metropolitan
area; additional
maps on both the Missouri and Illinois sides of the Mississippi River
will be
proposed.
Justin Pearce, William Lettis & Associates; San
Rafael, Calif.: They are completing the Missouri parts of five
quadrangles whose Illinois parts
are already mapped. They are close to putting geotechnical data into a
database, and will incorporate ground water data next. Their strategy
is to add
detail to existing Quaternary mapping on the Missouri side. Artificial
fill and
locations of filled creeks are of special interest. They are currently
collecting SPT data, but may include CPT data in the future. The final product will be a GIS-based
on an in-house Access database.
Jack Odum, US Geological Survey, Denver: Typically
their Vs
profiles are measured at a rate of two sites per day. About 100 data
points
were used in the six Memphis quadrangles. The USGS cannot collect data
at
enough sites to maintain a similar density over the 29 St. Louis
quadrangles.
Thus, the USGS measurements might best be sited so as to complement
others'
work. Jack urged a discussion of how to prioritize candidate sites at
which the
USGS might collect data that best fills in gaps. Jack and colleagues
will be in
the St. Louis area for 5 days in April, when they will likely measure
about 10
sites.
Discussion
then shifted
to who is planning to propose on what general scopes of work, and what
results people
would like to see.
Norm Hester: Norm suggested developing depositional
models to
generalize the few existing Vs and CPT sites, perhaps by performing CPT
for
Evansville area. Subsurface
material is more problematic east of the Mississippi.
Bob Herrmann, St. Louis University: Bob's strong-motion
seismographs could sample sites, for example along I-64 to sample
different
depositional environments. He's interested in velocities and modeling
of the Paleozoic
rocks, which will affect ground motion, as well as Vs of surficial
materials.
Buddy Schweig: Buddy recommended that about 5 people
should start
an informal group to coordinate the collection of new data for the
database.
Peggy Guccione, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville: She
and a
student will do coring and surficial mapping of the Elsah quadrangle of
Missouri and Illinois. She requests advice as to formats and data types
to use.
Their cores will be 2 inches in diameter, will reach 10-15 feet deep,
and will
be taken with a soil probe rig.
John Baldwin: John expects to submit a proposal to map
another
part of the St. Louis metro area, perhaps in the south.
Bob Herrmann: Bob may use Vs of Quaternary materials and
shallow
bedrock to use earthquakes to reveal structure within the Quaternary
and
bedrock.
Dave Rogers: Planned proposal will establish COSMOS as
architecture to use for database. Dave
hopes to compile data from an area larger than 29 quadrangles, to
identify data
gaps. He will use the data that are already in hand and put it into the
COSMOS
format so that later results can be added. Need
a list of parameters, database dictionary, etc. Also
need to ask private companies with
information in their files (consultants, utilities, remediation etc.),
to share
their data, although this could be potentially difficult due to client
confidentiality.
Mimi Garstang: The Missouri Geological Survey plans to
request new
funds for an extension of Jim Palmer's database work [which had been
begun by
Dave Hoffman before he retired].
Dave Rogers: East of the Mississippi River surficial
materials
are thicker and, therefore, more heterogeneous than they are west of
the river. Data held by private
engineering
companies could be scanned, then digitized. It
has an enormous potential for private industry.
Buddy Schweig: Buddy urged proposal authors to explain
explicitly
how their plans coordinate with the work or plans of others. It is good
for a
proposal to include letters from future users saying that they support
the
proposed work and will use its results.
Martha Kopper, East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, St.
Louis,
Mo.: The Council is assembling software that can be used to predict
locations
of future development. The planned database and maps might have the
largest
impact in areas where they can influence development as it occurs or is
planned.
Buddy Schweig: The next meeting in regard to this project
will
probably be held in conjunction with the 2004 National Earthquake
Conference to
be held in St. Louis September 26-30, 2004.