© Silvia Mazzoni 2024

Welcome to saas-y groundMotions:
a fully-integrated pay-per-use tool for developing ground-motion suites for analysis!

Features

This app will help you select the appropriate ground-motion suite for your site in one in a single integrated workflow!

Pay-per-use only -- no annual license fees!! Easy to charge to projects instead of overhead!
User-friendly, self-documented, and intuitive Interface!

Fully-Integrated USGS Design Maps for your target spectrum!

Fully-Integrated USGS Disaggregation for your record search criteria!

Choose from many ground-motion selection, scaling, & modification methods available!

This app searches the NGA-West2 and NGA-Subduction databases seamlessly and simultaneously -- all in one step!!

This app determines the optimal ground-motion suite along with scale factors and optional spectrum-modification targets.

Integrate it into your workflow by using it as a REST API so you don't have to go through the web interface.

Note: the current release of this app does not provide the record files themselves. If you don't already have them, you can download them from the appropriate NGA web portals (link provided below).

The current release of this app does not modify the record files themselves, you will have to perform this last step locally.

Data References

NGA-Data Source References

All Intensity metadata and intensity measures were obtained from the NGA-West2 and NGA-Subduction Published Data

Timothy D. Ancheta, Robert B. Darragh, Jonathan P. Stewart, Emel Seyhan, Walter J. Silva, Brian S.J. Chiou, Katie E. Wooddell,
Robert W. Graves, Albert R. Kottke, David M. Boore, Tadahiro Kishida, and Jennifer L. Donahue, "PEER NGA-West2 Database"
PEER 2013/03
Bozorgnia Y, Abrahamson NA, Ahdi SK, et al. NGA-Subduction research program. Earthquake Spectra. 2022;38(2):783-798. doi:10.1177/87552930211056081

NGA-West2+East & NGA-Subduction

Click on a button to access the page in a new tab:

Quick Instructions

All work is done in the Input Dashboard.

Work through each process top to bottom by toggling it in the Input menu bar.

If your site is located within the Conterminous USA, this app allows you to integrate USGS webservices/REST tools

Use the integrated tool to obtain your target spectrum from the USGS Design Maps

Use the integrated tool to determine your ground-motion-selection scenarios from the USGS Hazard Deaggregation

When ready, press the "Search & Process" button to let the program build your suite.

Wait time may be up to one-two minutes, depending on

the speed of your connection (to and from the server)

size and complexity of your request

rendering speed of your client server

Once the app has created your ground-motion suite the Results menu will open up with many visualizations of your suite.

You can download the search results in JSON or CSV.

You can modify input and select/unselect records in iterative submissions (each submission needs one token).

There is a maximum number of records it processes -- it is set to 50.

Computing the target spectra for modification requires an additional token, so do it only once you have a good suite.

Compare the results of each run in the "Summary of All Runs" module.

The program does not store data, neither locally nor on the cloud. Make sure you download all reports and tables.

Reloading the page removes all your work

There is no UNDO, and clicking the back arrow in your browser clears all your work.

TOKENS: This app requires tokens to run in non-demo mode: One Token per Search-Records submit!

TOKENS: If you submit a job without a token, the app returns value for a random site, not yours!!

TOKENS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE

NOTE: The current version of this app does not provide the time-series files, nor does it modify them.

NOTE: The current version of this app does not look at Vertical Components.
p.s.: SAAS = software as a service! --> only pay per use!

Token Management

This app runs on tokens: 1 token per submit.

Manage your token keys

Your Valid Token Key:

	Note: only the URL input parameters will be preserved

Buy tokens

More tokens allow you to refine your search.

Once you have purchased the tokens, you will receive your private token key. Keep this key secret.

The tokens must be used within 14 days of purchase. The duration of the tokens starts with your first token.

Warranty

No Warranty. THIS SERVICE AND ANY RELATED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER WRITTEN OR ORAL, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. Silvia Mazzoni DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ALL WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Silvia Mazzoni DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THIS SERVICE WILL MEET USER'S NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS, THAT ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH USE OF THIS SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, THAT USE OF THIS SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR FREE FROM ERROR, OR THAT ALL DEFECTS IN THIS SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.

Contact Us

Site Location

Define site location to be used as input for USGS hazard tools, if within the data boundaries.

Coordinates

Latitude:

Longitude:

Map

use mouse wheel to zoom in/out quickly

Site Data

Define Vs30, and building period to be used as input for USGS hazard tools, if within the data boundaries.

Site Class Select the tab corresponding to how you would like to define the Vs30 to be used in USGS tools

Site Class:

ASCE 7-22 Site Class:

Site Vs30:

info on site class

Used fo for input in USGS tools.

1 ft/s = 0.3048*m/s
1 m/s = 3.2808 ft/s

references

Ref:BSSCSYM030721_Session2-Slds.pdf
Ref:NEHRP-site-classes-and-Vs30-ranges-used-in-Figure-6_tbl1_267267775...
Ref:Site-Class-Definitions-in-the-International-Building-Code-2000....

Building Period

Building Period (sec):

Target Spectrum

automatedButton

Automated USGS Seismic Design Maps (Optional -- click here to open)

Enter the appropriate Reference-Document input below.
Using the site location and class you have already defined, the app will obtain the design-map values for your project automatically.

Reference Document:
Risk Category:

USGS Design-Maps Spectra Data

Click on legend items to toggle lines. Double-click on a line to view alone. Hover for info.

USGS Design-Spectrum Parameters

WebServices/REST Data

UGSG Web-Services

saas-y groundMotions WebServices

Target Spectrum Target Spectrum used for Ground-Motion Selection, Scaling, & Modification.
You may enter it manually or use the USGS Seisimic Design Maps option above to select a target spectrum there and let the app enter it below automatically.

Target-Spectrum Label:

Target-Spectrum Period (sec):

Target-Spectrum PSA (g):

Target-Spectrum Interpolation Method:

Weight Function

The Weight Function will be used in record selection, record scaling, and suite scaling.
It is used to compute the Cost function (SSE) and/or Mean-Squared Error (MSE) between
a response spectrum (record or suite-average) and the target spectrum to evaluate spectral shape and variability.
-->Leave the Weight-Function Value List input blank to use my weight function which optimizes both mean and variability

Weight-Function Period List (sec):

Weight-Function Value List :
leave blank for my optimized values

Weight-Function Interpolation Method:

Record Search & Selection Criteria

The selection process queries the NGA databases to find records that meet your constraints and fit the targets best.
If your site is within the USGS boundaries, you may use the integrated USGS disaggregation tool to automate your search criteria.

Notes on Record Selection

All Intensity metadata and intensity measures were obtained from the NGA-West2 and NGA-Subduction Published Data

Tight selection criteria may limit your options significantly.

Each scenario has input for Shape Bounds.
In this case, I check that the shape of the record spectrum does not differ from the target spectrum by more than +- the bounds in log space.

Optional. Recommended value=1.5.

This process removes records whose spectra shape differs from the target spectrum significantly.

If you make this number too tight you may not get enough records.

References for ground-motion other selection methods:

Jack Baker was the first, or close to the first, to set a target for sigma.
It is my understanding that his method creates realizations that meet his search criter and then searches for records that meet that criteria.
I use the same cost function -- Sum of the weighted squared error.
Baker, J. W., Lin, T., Shahi, S. K., and Jayaram, N. (2011). New Ground Motion Selection Procedures and Selected Motions for the
PEER Transportation Research Program. PEER Technical Report 2011/03. 106p.

Researchers are UCLA's NHR3 program implement a greedy algorithm, intended for multi-threaded search.
Original Publication: Shokrabadi, Mehrdad; Bozorgnia, Yousef; Burton, Henry V.; Baker, Jack W.; Askari, Mohammad (2022):
An Efficient Computational Platform for Selecting and Scaling Ground Motion Records while Considering Multiple Target Spectra.
https://doi.org/10.34948/N3K01N

A new method proposed by Jonathan Dereje takes advantage of multithreading to compute many possible ground-motion suites.
This method allows the user to select a suite that best matches their selection criteria by scoring the mean and sigma separately.
Dereje, A.J.and Kim, J., 2023. An enhanced ground motion selection algorithm for seismic safety assessment of structures.
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering , 165, p.107709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2022.107709

Search Input

Vs30 range (m/s) (min,max):

Apply selection constraints on additional Intensity Measures.

Include Pulse-Period Criteria in Search:
Include 5-75% Duration in Search:
Include 5-95% Duration in Search:

info
Including these IM constraints in the search will reduce the number of records in your results.
Recommended: Enter ranges for these IM for each scenario but do not include them in the search (leave boxes unchecked).
You can then check the individual-record values against your input in the results plots

Max number of records per event over all scenarios:

Leave this blank for no limit or to control it by the individual scenarios only.

Initial Record-Selection Method:

info
With the current version of this app you have 3 options for record selection, after the search criteria are met:

MinimizeMSE: Select records with the best fit on both Mean and Variability

LowestMSE: Use this method if you are interested in fitting only the mean. This method is the traditional method of selecting recods with the lowest MSE.

RandomMSE: Select the records within the subset of those which meet the search criteria randomly. This process is not repeatable!!

Scaled-record suite target variability (=COV):

Cost-Function relative weight of Variability:

info

This cost function I use is defined in Baker, et al, 2011.

This cost function is a simple SSE: the weighted sum of the squares of the deviation of the set mean and variability from the target mean and variability.

Trying to match both mean and sigma is a multi-objective optimization where improving the fit for one variable,
such as increasing the relative weight on Sigma, worsen the fit on the other variable, such as the mean.

You can also control your fit by assigning non-unity values to the period-dependent weight-function (defined with the target spectrum).

SSE = WeightArray*sum(

(TargetPSA - suitePSAaverageLog)^2

+SigmaWeight*(TargetSigma-suitePSAlogstdev)^2
)

USGS Disaggregation (Optional -- click here to open)

Integrated use of the USGS Web-Services Disaggregation to obtain the disaggregation data for your site. CONTERMINOUS US ONLY!!!
You can run Disaggregation more than once. The results will be appended each time.

Return Period:
Intensity Measure:
Total Number of Recods in Suite:
Note: your search will result in more records than this Total.

Note: Your token will be validated but not used.

Disaggregation Plot:

use mouse wheel to zoom in/out quickly

Pulse & Duration Model References

The following models were used for the Pulse and Duration IM's. These models are intended for shallow crustal events, but they were applied to all cases.
The tables provide you with a range -- mean +/- 1.5*sigma -- as well as the mean, in parenthesis.
New models will be implemented in future versions.

Pulse Content: Hayden et al. [2014]
Hayden C.P., Bray J.D., Abrahamson N.A. (2014). Selection of near-fault pulse motions, ASCE, J. Geotech.Geoenviro. Eng.,
doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001129, 0401430.

Pulse Period: Shahi and Baker [2014]
Shahi S.K., Baker J.W. (2014). An efficient algorithm to identify strong-velocity pulses in multicomponent ground motions,
Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 104(5): 2456-2466.

Duration: Afshari and Stewart [2016]
Afshari, K., and Stewart, J. P. (2016). "Physically Parameterized Prediction Equations for Significant Duration in Active Crustal Regions."
Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 2057-2081. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1193/063015EQS106M
adapted from: https://github.com/bakerjw

Include Total & GMM Disaggregation

Disaggregation Mode (largest m-r bin)

Disaggregation Mode (largest m-r-eps bin)

Disaggregation Mean (over all sources)

Disaggregation by Source

Info

The data in this table are in order of contribution to hazard for each source.

These data were determined by using the "Disaggregation by Source" Data and estimating ranges on Magnitude, Distance, etc.

For the cases where the distance is <15km, I estimated the number of pulse records and split this input into two rows: with and without puse

For the cases with and without pulse and divided the contribution proportionately with the number of pulses.

Review these data and adjust them. You may add input data to the extra rows provided to you.

Only rows that have been selected will be used. As you can expect, the final number of records will not be the same as your original input in the disaggregation tool.

Instructions (click here to open/close) Enter details of your own suite. All lists are to be entered as comma-separated values (csv). First enter the list of RSNs. Then enter the NGA database to which there RSNs belong. If they are all from the same database, you only need to enter its name. Otherwise, please assign a DbLabel to each RSN. Next enter the Spectrum resultant. You may define a single value for each of these inputs if it is the same for all records. The following input is optional, the app will assign default values if left blank: Next enter the Component Orientation of the records. You may define a single value for each of these inputs if it is the same for all records. The SubSearchTag allows you to assign the recors to different groups. A maximum of 4 groups is allowed. The IncludeInSuite switch allows you to include records in your suite that are turned off and not considered in computing scale factors. You may want to turn them on in a later iteration. If you want to use scale factors, make sure that you have the proper selection in the Record & Suite Scaling Criteria: User-Defined for the initial record scaling and NoScaling for the suite. Check the final selection to determine whether all your records were found. To improve efficiency, the spectra and metadata tables used by this app are a subset of the published ones, I have removed low-magnitude records. If you include a record that is not in the app's database, it will be skipped.

1. RSN (csv): Only larger-magnitude records are included in this app	2. DbLabel (csv or a single value): options: NGAWest2,NGASub	3. Spectrum Resultant (csv or a single value): options: RotD100,RotD50,H1,H2,V,FN,FP
Optional Input:
4. Component Orientation (csv or a single value): options: H1H2,FPFN(NGAWest2-only)	5. SubSearchTag (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1) (max=4)	6. IncludeInSuite (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1) (options: 1=yes, 0=no) :
7. Initial Record ScaleFactor (csv or a single value): (optional, depending on your scaling criteria)	8. Record ScaleFactor (csv or a single value): (optional, depending on your scaling criteria)

Select individual records by clicking on the checkboxes in the Results Record Metadata Table.
Go There

The app populates these inputs.

RSN (csv): Only larger-magnitude records are included in this app	DbLabel (csv or a single value): options: NGAWest2,NGASub	Spectrum-Resultant (csv or a single value): options: RotD100,RotD50,H1,H2,V,FN,FP
Optional Input:
Component Orientation (csv or a single value): options: H1H2,FPFN(NGAWest2-only)	SubSearchTag (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1) (max=4)	IncludeInSuite (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1) (options: 1=yes, 0=no) :
Record ScaleFactor (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1.0)
Initial Record ScaleFactor (csv or a single value): (optional, default=1.0)

Record-Scaling Criteria

Scaling Process Info

Apply optional scale factor to Target Spectrum (Optional)

Compute individual scale factor for each record (SFi) based on your selection

Compute a single scale factor for the average of the initally-scaled suite based on your selection (SF_suite)

Apply additional scale factor to all records in suite (SF=SFi*SF_suite).

Scaling Methods Info

NoScaling:Scale factor = 1

UserDefined:The scale factor is defined by the user (available only with user-defined ground-motion suite)

MinimizeMSE:Scale Factor minimizes the Mean-Squared Error between the optionally-scaled target spectrum and the spectra points within the user-defined period range

AboveTarget:Scale Factor ensures all spectra points are above the optionally-scaled target spectrum within the user-defined period range

Envelope:Scale Factor ensures all spectra points are below the optionally-scaled target spectrum within the user-defined period range

SinglePeriod:Ensures that the PSA at the user-specified period is equal to that of the optionally-scaled target spectrum

Record Scaling

Initial Record-Scaling Method:

Initial Record-Scaling Period Range
(min,max):

Single-Period Scaling Period:

Initial Record SFi Range (min,max):

Suite Scaling

Suite-Scaling Method:

Suite-Scaling Period Range
(min,max):

Single-Period Scaling Period:

Additional Scaling

Target-Spectrum Scale Factor:
Scale factors are computed using this SF

Additional Suite Scale Factor:
SF applied to all records after scaling to target

Misc

Suite-Average Method:

Damping Ratio:

Spectrum-Modification Targets

Compute Modification Targets (+1 extra token)

Target Spectrum SF

Additional SF for Modification Targets

Scale Factor:

Spectrum-Modification Target Period & Sigma

Instructions & Examples

NOTE: If you modify the records at the component level instead of the resultant, the component target spectra that will be provided use a proxy and the match may not be exact!

Leave both inputs empty for no modification targets.

Otherwise, you may control Modification-Target Mean and Sigma in a number of ways:

NOTE: a match in components likely results in a mismatch of RotD100!

No Modification:	Leave both Period and Sigma lists blank Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma:
Match Mean only:	Keep same variability as the scaled suite. Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma:
Match Mean & Constant Sigma:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: *SigmaConstant*
Match Mean & Period-Dependent Sigma:	Period: *T_0,T_1,T_2,T_3,....,T_N* Sigma: *Sigma_0,Sigma_1,Sigma_2,Sigma_3,....,Sigma_N*
Match Mean & Set a Minimum Sigma:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: *SigmaMin_Negative*
Match Mean & Set a Maximum Sigma:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: *0,SigmaMax_Negative*
Match Mean & Bound Sigma:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: *SigmaMin_Negative,SigmaMax_Negative*
Tight spectral matching of Spectrum Resultant:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: 0
Tight spectral matching of EACH Horizontal Component:	Period: *Tmin,Tmax* Sigma: *0,0*

Modification Periods (s): T₁,T₂,..,T_n
Modification Target Sigma: sigma₁,sigma₂,...,sigma_n

Templates: (open Instructions & Examples bar for details)
Amplitude Scaling Only:

Mean-Spectrum Modification:

Tight Spectrum Matching:

Note: this option processes only the Modification criteria and does not consider any other edits you have made to the input.

Record Modification

Define your record-modification input parameters

RSPMatch Input

Input Parameters for RSPmatch09.exe

Generate RSPmatch InputFiles (+1 extra token)

Input lists of comma-separated values of input for each RSP-Match pass.

Maximum number of iterations for spectral matching:
Tolerance for maximum deviation from target (in fraction of target):
Convergence-Damping factor:

Spectral-Matching model:
(1=Reverse impulse reponse function -- using explicit integration
6=Tapered cosine wave -- using explicit integration
7=Improved tapered cosine function)

Parameters for the frequency dependence of the taper of the adjustment time history for wavelet model 6 (a1,a2, f1, f2)
a1:
a2:
f1:
f2:

Scale flag : (0=no, 1=yes, 2=yes but once)

Scale period (0=PGA):
interpolate to 1/dtFlag of the input time step:
minimum eigenvalue:
group size:
max freq:

Frequency Bandwidth and Npole (deactivated for model 7)
FilterFreq1:
FilterFreq2:
FilterNPole:

Mod PGA (deactivated for model 7): (0=no, 1=yes)

Randomize Target?
iSeed:
Randomization Factor:

Baseline Correction flag (deactivated for model 7): (0=no, 1=yes)

Scale Factor:

Min/Max Period for Match at each pass:

Pass Tmin_Factor: Tmax_passI = Tmin_Factor_passI*Tmin_mod

Pass Tmax_Factor:Tmax_passI=TmatchMin+(Tmax_Factor_passI-0.01)*(TmatchMax-TmatchMin)/(10-0.01)

Input Summary

Scaled-Spectra Plots

Modified-Spectra Plots

Scaled & Modified Spectra

Individual-Record Spectra Plot

Components:

Select components to visualize on all graphs: H1 H2 FP FN RotD50 RotD100

Record:

To visualize the extra records, check the appropriate box in the Metadata Table control panel.

Target/Suite-Mean Ratio Plots

Variability

This applies to all spectra plots!

Shaking Duration

Pulse Period

Record-Metadata Table

Use checkboxes to select/unselect individual records for a refined search. Your record selection will be used when you re-submit processing.
The row highlighted in yellow indicates the record being shown in the Individual-Record Spectra box above.
Selected=1: This record was included in the ground-motion suite. Selected=0, it was not included.

Notes on Scale Factors

You may assign new values to the record scale factor (SF) or to the initial record scale factor (SFi).

The Scale Factor in the table, SF, is dependent on the records included in the suite and your record and suite scaling criteria.

The Initial Scale Factor in the table, SFi, is dependent on the records-scaling criteria.

To use SF, set the Suite-Scaling Method to UserDefined, this over-rides any initial scaling.

To use SFi, set the Initial Record-Sacling Method to UserDefined, and then chose what you want to do with the suite.

Show additional records that meet search/scaling criteria that are not included in GM suite
Show only checked records
Edit Scale Factors (set scaling to user-defined to use your new scale factors)
Click on a header to sort by it.

Scaled-Spectra Table -- SPECTRUM RESULTANT

Scaled-Spectra Table -- COMPONENTS

Modified-Spectra Tables -- SPECTRUM RESULTANT

Use these values as the targets for the individual-record Spectrum Resultant in ground-motion modification.

NOTES (click to view)

These values are accurate only if you used a valid token.
The target spectra provided below are intended as recommended values
After modification, ALWAYS compute the response spectra of the modified records and compare them with your targets
Also, ALWAYS verify that the modified records are acceptable for your application
Check accelerations, velocities, and displacements
After modification, you will, very likely, need to apply an additional scale factor to meet your criteria
The results are highly dependent on your original ground-motion selection
I recommend you use RSPmatch to modify the records -- I developed a workbook for it while at UCLA ( click here )

Modified-Spectra Tables -- COMPONENTS

Use these values as the targets for the individual-record components in ground-motion modification.

NOTES (click to view)

These values are accurate only if you used a valid token.
The target spectra provided below are intended as recommended values
After modification, ALWAYS compute the response spectra of the modified records and compare them with your targets
Also, ALWAYS verify that the modified records are acceptable for your application
Check accelerations, velocities, and displacements
After modification, you will, very likely, need to apply an additional scale factor to meet your criteria
The results are highly dependent on your original ground-motion selection
I recommend you use RSPmatch to modify the records -- I developed a workbook for it while at UCLA ( click here )

Reports

Download these reports!!!

REST API Web-Services Call:
You can copy and paste this link to resubmit the project via a web-service call. Note, you will be charged a token(s)

Summary of Input used by this app

Map of Epicenters and Stations

For each record, the station (red circle) is connected to the epicenter (blue hollow circle) via a black Path line.
Click on each object for more information about it. The path lines give you the epicentral distance.
NOTE: This map does not always load up properly.

Summary & Comparison of All Run Data -- Input & Output

Each time you submit a job, the relevant data gets inserted here.
Note: the results are presented in reversed chronological order, with the most recent listed first.
In addition to the run number (assigned in chronological order), i provide you the reference submittal date/time (in greenwich time, I believe)
Note, only the the plots from the last run are interactive.

Batch Project Input

Fill out this form quickly using a set of key-value pairs.
These data may come from a clone you have made or from data you generated yourself.

Paste your input data in the textbox below. Each value pair will be inputted into the app's form.

Paste project data in &-separated (label=value) pairs:

Clone Project Input

Save input data for next time. Or just clone the project for the next iteration.

The input parameters for this app can be appended to the URL with a "?" as key-value comma-separated pairs. Each pair is separated by &
Below you will find the base URL, the input parameters, as well as the full URL that you should copy and save.
The full URL is the combination of the first two text boxes, concatenated by a ?
You can CLONE the INPUT parameters of this form into a new tab by cliking below as well (this option will appear after you click the update button).
NOTE: Any data obtained from the USGS tools does not clone. Your deaggregation-based worksheet cannot be cloned.

Clone Project

Base URL:

Project Data:

Full URL:

Note: the new tab will keep the input, but not the results (nor USGS data).
NOTE: This format should work even for future versions of the app (I may add more options), but it's still a good place to start and you can parse the key-value pairs manually.

Settings

Web-Services REST API

Skip the GUI and integrate the app into your workflow!

You can make a web-services call from your own application, such as excel or a python script. The call will return an easy-to-parse json string.
Note: You still need to purchase/use tokens

Build URL

Build URL from current form input.

Web-Services API Input

Details on how to build input for the API

NOTE: You will be charged a token for each call.
Because the web-app is still evolving, I recommend you start with the above option to build the URL that you can then use as a template!

Token:

userTokenInput

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: pre-paid token

Options:

Example:

Target Spectrum:

UserSpectrumInputT

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Target-spectrum Period list

Options:

Example:

UserSpectrumInputPSA

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Target-spectrum PSA list

Options:

Example:

TargetSpectrumSF

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Scale factor to be applied to target spectrum before scaling

Options:

Example:

TargetSpectrumInterpolation

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Target-spectrum interpolation

Options: 'LogT,LogPSA','LogT,LinPSA','LinT,LinPSA'

Example: LogT,LogPSA

DampingRatio

Required:

Default Value:

Description: damping ratio for PSA

Options: 0.05

Example:

Search:

SearchType

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Search method for records database

Options: Scenario,UserGMsuite

Example: Scenario

if SearchType == Scenario

Vs30Range

Required:

Default Value: 10,5000

Description: Vs30 range (m/s): Min,Max

Options:

Example:

MaxNoEventRecords_All

Required:

Default Value: 0

Description: Maximum number of records per event for the entire suite

Options:

Example: 2

InitialRecordSelectionMethod

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Selection method for the scenario MaxNoRecords_i

Options: 'MinimizeMSE','LowestMSE','RandomMSE'

Example: MinimizeMSE

recordTargetSigma

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Scaled-Record Suite Target Sigma (=COV)

Options:

Example: 0.33

shapeBounds

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Bounds on Spectral Shape

Options:

Example: 1.5

Scenarios:

EventCheckBox

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Scenario Checkbox on whether to include it or not ('on': include, 'off' do not include)

Options: 'on','off'

Example:

CompOrient

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Component Orientation (in case you need Fp/Fn)

Options: 'H1H2','FPFN'

Example:

DbLabel

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Database Label

Options: 'NGAWest2','NGASub'

Example:

DistanceMetric

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Distance Metric

Options: 'ClstD','EpiD','HypD','JBDist'

Example:

DistanceRange

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Distance Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

Duration575Range

Required:

Default Value:

Description: 5-75% Duration Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

Duration595Range

Required:

Default Value:

Description: 5-95% Duration Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

EpiLatRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Epicenter Latitude Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

EpiLonRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Epicenter Longitude Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

EQIDList

Required:

Default Value:

Description: EQ ID list

Options:

Example:

EQnameList

Required:

Default Value:

Description: EQ name

Options:

Example:

EQyearRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: EQ year Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

MagnitudeRange

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: EQ Magnitude Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

MaxNoEventRecords

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Maximum number of records per event

Options:

Example:

MaxNoRecords

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Maximum number of records

Options:

Example:

Mechanism

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: EQ Mechanism

Options: 'NGAWest2':['All','strike slip','Normal','Reverse','Reverse Oblique','Normal Oblique'],'NGASub':['All','Interface','Intraslab']

Example:

PGARange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: PGA Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

PGVRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: PGA Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

PulseSwitch

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Pulse Switch (only in NGAWest2)

Options: 'All','PulseOnly','NoPulse'

Example:

ShapeBounds

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Shape Bounds

Options:

Example: 1.5

RSNList

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Record-SequenceNumber list (only number, no prefix)

Options:

Example:

SpectrumResultant

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Spectrum Resultant

Options: 'RotD100','RotD50','H1','H2','FN','FP'

Example:

SSNList

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Station Sequence Number list

Options:

Example:

StationLatRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Station Latitude Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

StationLonRange

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Station Longitude Range: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

STNnameList

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Station Name list

Options:

Example: 'Centro,TCU'

if SearchType == UserGMsuite

UsrGMstInCompOrientList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Component Orientation (in case you need Fp/Fn)

Options: 'H1H2','FPFN'

Example:

UsrGMstInDbLabelList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Database Label

Options: 'NGAWest2','NGASub'

Example:

UsrGMstInNGARSNList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Record-SequenceNumber (only number, no prefix)

Options:

Example:

UsrGMstInSelectedList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Flag on whether to use the record (1=use,0=do not use)

Options:

Example:

UsrGMstInSFiList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Initial Record Scale Factor

Options:

Example:

UsrGMstInSFList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Record Scale Factor

Options:

Example:

UsrGMstInSpectrumResultantList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Spectrum Resultant

Options: 'RotD100','RotD50','H1','H2','FN','FP'

Example:

UsrGMstInSubsetTagList

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Subset Tag for grouping

Options:

Example:

Record Scaling:

InitialRecordScalingMethod

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Scaling of individual records

Options: 'MinimizeMSE','AboveTarget','Envelope','NoScaling','SinglePeriod','UserDefined','Unity'

Example:

SFiRange

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Range of initial record scaling. Records outside this range are rejected. Min,Max

Options:

Example:

SFsingleTTi

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Conditioning Period in SinglePeriod Scaling

Options:

Example:

RecordScalingPeriodRange

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Period Range of initial record selection and scaling: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

Suite Scaling:

SuiteAverageModel

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Computation of suite average PSA

Options: 'Arithmetic','Geometric'

Example:

SuiteScalingMethod

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Scaling of suite average

Options: 'MinimizeMSE','AboveTarget','AboveTarget84pct','AboveTarget16pct','Envelope','Envelope84pct','Envelope16pct','NoScaling','SinglePeriod','UserDefined','Unity'

Example:

addlSuiteSF

Required:

Default Value: 1

Description: Additional scale factor to be applied to suite after scaling

Options:

Example:

SFsingleTT

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Conditioning Period in SinglePeriod Scaling

Options:

Example:

SuiteScalingPeriodRange

Required: Yes

Default Value:

Description: Period Range of suite-average scaling: Min,Max

Options:

Example:

Modification Targets:

ModPeriodLimits

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Period Range of record modification: Min,Max

Options:
No Modification: blank;
Match mean and period-dependent sigma: list of comma-separated values

Example:

TargetModSigma

Required:

Default Value:

Description: Target sigma for record modification.

Options:
No modification: blank; Match mean only: blank;
Match mean and constant sigma: positive value;
Match mean & set minimum sigma: a single negative value;
Match mean and set maximum sigma: single negative value preceded by '0,';
Match mean and bound sigma: two negative values -min,-max;
Match mean and period-dependent sigma: list of comma-separated values;
Tight spectral matching on spectrum resultant: zero value

Example:

Web-services API Return Output

Details on data returned by API

The web call will return a JSON string. If the query was successful, the "body" item provides the search results.

Some Input Data

SearchType: user-defined search type

ScalingTlimits: json dictionary of user-defined scaling limits

ScenarioDataDict: json dictionry of search input for each search scenario/subset

ModRun: switch on whether modified-target spectra were computed (1=yes)

SnSresTargetSpectrum: 2-component array of target spectrum.
Array[0]=array of periods (s), Array[1]=array of PSA (g).
The program generates these arrays using the same periods as the database values.

SnSresTargetSpectrumSF: user-defined target-spectrum scale factor

Submittal Messages

errorMessage: Returns whether there was an error in processing

tokenReturnStr: String with information about tokens

tokenValidation: Flag for token validation (1=success)

thisPageHTMLerror: Comment in case of error (may be blank)

marker: Marker specifying path of processing (used by developer to track path)

Search Results

Nrecords: Number of records found

SnSresArrayAll: Json dictionary of record-metadata arrays.
The keys represent the record subset ID.
Each item will contain an array of arrays where each row corresponds to a record.

SnSresArrayAll_Keys: Headers for the record-metadata arrays in SnSresArrayAll

SnSresSuiteMeanArray: Array of scaled-record suite mean, etc.
A[0]=period,A[1]=Mean,A[2]=sigma,A[3]=mean+sigma,A[4]=mean-sigma
If ModRun==1:
A[5]=Mean,A[6]=sigma,A[7]=mean+sigma,A[8]=mean-sigma

SnSresSuiteMeanArraySubsets: JSON dictionary of scaled/modified-record suite mean, etc, grouped by scenario/subset.
For each group:
A[0]=period,A[1]=Mean,A[2]=sigma,A[3]=mean+sigma,A[4]=mean-sigma
If ModRun==1:
A[5]=Mean,A[6]=sigma,A[7]=mean+sigma,A[8]=mean-sigma

SelectedRecordScaledMSMtargetSpectrum_unscaled: JSON dictionary of UNSCALED component spectra for each record, grouped by database

SelectedRecordScaledMSMtargetSpectrum_scaled: JSON dictionary of SCALED component spectra for each record, grouped by database

SelectedRecordScaledMSMtargetSpectrum_modTarget: JSON dictionary of MODIFIED-TARGET component spectra for each record, grouped by database

CompAverages: JSON dictionary of (unscaled, scaled, and modified-target) component (mean,sigma,mean+/-sigma) spectra

ReportURL: two-component array with path to .JSON and .CSV reports, respectively

saas-y groundMotions @ Silvia's Brainery

Welcome to saas-y groundMotions: a fully-integrated pay-per-use tool for developing ground-motion suites for analysis!