CSN/LAUSD Network: A Dense Accelerometer Network in Los Angeles Schools

Robert W. Clayton, Monica D. Kohler, Richard Guy, Julian Bunn, Thomas H. Heaton, & Kanianthra Chandy

Published August 12, 2019, SCEC Contribution #9431, 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #251

The CSN/LAUSD is a network of 300 low-cost MEMS accelerometers located in schools in the Los Angeles, CA region. They are capable of accurately recording strong motion up to ±2g and are sufficiently spatially dense that they provide unaliased measurements of strong motions following a major earthquake. They are used to provide state-of-health monitoring for the schools and surrounding communities to guide the emergency response. As a research tool, they can be used to provide estimates of the site response at the schools and hence provide a much denser set of site responses for ground motion prediction than is currently available.

The CSN/LAUSD recorded the Searle Valley and Ridgecrest earthquakes very well. The scattering and lateral variation in site amplification are very evident. The strong 5-sec period energy that enters the Los Angeles Basin is also clear. In a side-by-side comparison of the CSN sensor with an Episensor shows a wiggle-for-wiggle match for both the Searle Valley and Ridgecrest earthquakes.

Key Words
network, dense, strong-motion

Citation
Clayton, R. W., Kohler, M. D., Guy, R., Bunn, J., Heaton, T. H., & Chandy, K. (2019, 08). CSN/LAUSD Network: A Dense Accelerometer Network in Los Angeles Schools. Poster Presentation at 2019 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Ridgecrest Earthquakes