SCEC Award Number 15188 View PDF
Proposal Category Workshop Proposal
Proposal Title Imaging and Analyzing Southern California's Active Faults with High-Resolution Topography: A Joint SCEC/OpenTopography/UNAVCO Short Course
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Christopher Crosby UNAVCO J Ramon Arrowsmith Arizona State University
Other Participants
SCEC Priorities 4c, 4b, 2a SCEC Groups Geology, Seismology
Report Due Date 03/15/2016 Date Report Submitted 03/14/2016
Project Abstract
 High resolution topographic data has become an important tool for earthquake scientists to make detailed observations and model surface evolution. Within the last decade, several efforts have been made to collect high resolution topographic (HRT) data for active faults (e.g. The B4 project, EarthScope, and numerous NCALM and USGS projects). These datasets are freely available online through OpenTopography, a NSF funded data distribution portal. The active faulting community has taken great interest in these exciting datasets, using them to generate new and important insights into earthquake processes in Southern California. OpenTopography in partnership with the Southern California Earthquake Center, UNAVCO, and EarthScope hosted a short course at Arizona State University on January 25-26, 2016. This 2-day course highlighted recent research results and provide beginner to intermediate training on airborne and terrestrial lidar, and Structure from Motion technology, point cloud and raster-based data processing, and active fault-oriented analysis. We emphasized fault trace and geomorphic mapping, topographic differencing, integration with other geospatial data, and data visualization and analysis approaches. Participant had the opportunity to discuss their research with other participants and the instructors via short evening presentations. The curriculum included modules on fault trace and geomorphic mapping applications, topographic differencing, integration with other geospatial data, and data visualization and analysis approaches. Consistent with previous SCEC-supported lidar short courses in 2009, 2011, and 2013, interest in the 2016 course exceeded capacity with 90 applications for 35 course slots. Course participants were primarily early career graduate students, and postdocs, with a hand full of faculty participants.
Intellectual Merit With over 4500 km2 of recently acquired fault zone lidar available in southern California, and a pool of TLS equipment accessible to the community through UNAVCO, enthusiasm and interest in these data are high. The SCEC lidar short course is timely and focused venue to present advances in analysis techniques and recent results, and to provide a foundation for new community members who wish to incorporate these data into their research. This course helps to develop a community of SCEC scientists, graduate students, and agency and consulting geoscientists who can fully harness the rich community airborne and terrestrial lidar resources currently available, and SfM technology, to advance SCEC science priorities.
Broader Impacts The SCEC lidar short course provides hands-on training in new geospatial data processing and analysis techniques that are applicable beyond active tectonics applications of lidar. With an emphasis on undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral participants, the short course provides technical training and education to the future geoscience workforce. All materials from the course are also available online where they can be reused by the larger scientific and practitioner communities.
Exemplary Figure Imaging and Analyzing Southern California's Active Faults with High Resolution Topography short course summary image. Upper left: participants work through a hands-on data processing exercise in computer lab at ASU. Upper right: Structure from Motion model showing camera positions. Bottom: Lidar hillshade for the Garlock fault. (Photo: C. Crosby)