GEOSISMO: Visualisation of Events and Seismologic Characteristics in the Internet

Abstract

An inventory of seismic movements at global level exists that is based on the data gathered by the seismographers of each observatory. This inventory includes the location and characteristics of the technical equipment of the observatories, as well as the location and date of each earthquake. The inventory is stored in an Access database, and the accelerograms (temporal series of accelerations) are stored in text files. It is proposed that a web service based in a Web Feature Service be created, following the specifications of the OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium), that would visualize the location of the seismographers and of the epicenters of the earthquakes for the spatial and temporal intervals provided. The representation of the places will be a geometric symbol proportional to the PGA magnitude, based on information extracted automatically by the system. When the context (number of elements to represent or zoom level) permit it, the accelerograms will be visualized as scaled in proportion to the magnitude of seismic activity instead of as a geometric symbol. This type of visualization will facilitate interpretation and a rapid decision when the page is consulted. This objective will be enhanced by the possibility of visualizing the information from anyplace that has Internet access, because the tool will be configured as a piece of SDI in conformance with OGC standards.