SCEC Award Number 23086 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Proposal (Data Gathering and Products)
Proposal Title Broadening Access to the SCEC Community Stress Model Through a Queryable Web-based Visualization Tool
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Karen Luttrell Louisiana State University Scott Marshall Appalachian State University Philip Maechling University of Southern California
Other Participants Mei-Hui Su (SCEC)
Edric Pauk (SCEC)
Tran Huynh (SCEC)
SCEC Priorities 1c, 1d SCEC Groups CXM, SDOT
Report Due Date 03/15/2024 Date Report Submitted 03/11/2024
Project Abstract
 The goal of this research has been to develop a queryable web-based visualization tool for CSM model and data contributions, simplifying access to existing model resources and expanding CSM access to potential users with a wider range of skill-sets and disciplinary backgrounds. First, we created an archive of the CSM v2023 [Hardebeck et al., 2023]. This involved collecting existing CSM contributions from SCEC4 and SCEC5, calculating consistent meaningful stress metrics for each model, and repackaging model data and metadata in widely accessible formats with extensive documentation. We then worked with all CSM contributors to get the CSM into a citable permanent archive. Second, we created a visualization tool that allows users to easily compare different CSM models at different depths using any of four different tensor metrics. This involved extensive efforts coordinating with SCEC research programmers, using a combination of tools developed for previous CXM viewers and new tool features developed explicitly for the CSM. We created extensive documentation and a user guide for the new CSM Viewer Webtool. Finally, after the development of the new user friendly CSM archive and Viewer Webtools, we restructured the CSM homepage, formally released the final CSM v2023 archive, and formally released the CSM Viewer Webtool. This included fine-polishing all of these resources and moving them from temporary developer sites accessible only to co-PIs to formal SCEC assets, linked and accessible to the public from the SCEC homepage. We expect these new products will both expand the user community and facilitate novel research avenues.
Intellectual Merit This work has directly supported the objectives of the Community Models (CXM) and Stress and Deformation over Time (SDOT) interdisciplinary working groups to answer the basic earthquake science question of “How are faults loaded across temporal and spatial scales?” by supporting the development and use of crustal stress estimates and facilitating the work of researchers quantifying the spatial scale of stress heterogeneity.
Broader Impacts This work directly responds to SCEC CXM Research Priorities for developing IT tools toward a broad integrated SCEC Community Models Viewer and for extending the capabilities of the CSM website in particular. The resulting archive materials and visualization tools have considerably lowered the initial time and energy investment of potential users interested in exploring the CSM model contributions, particularly for student users and users from non-traditional or non-specialized backgrounds. We expect this will both expand the user community and facilitate novel research avenues.
Exemplary Figure Figure 2: The SCEC Community Stress Model Viewer Webtool, developed during this project [Luttrell et al., 2023]. Dropdown boxes allow users to select model, metric, and depth to display. Users can change model opacity, choose to overlay additional data, or select a subregion to download. This example shows Aphi values from the Luttrell 2017 model, zoomed in to the Los Angeles and Ventura regions. The CSM Viewer Webtool can also display user created *.kml files, the CFM6.0 fault traces (turned on here), the Geologic Framework Model from the CRM, and the Borehole SHmax orientations (also turned on here) from Luttrell and Hardebeck [2021].