Development of Archiving and Web Dissemination of Geotechnical Data

This paper is a summary of findings and recommendations of a Consortium of Organizations for Strong-Motion Operating Systems (COSMOS)/ Pacific Earthquake Engineering Center (PEER) Lifelines Program workshop on archiving and web dissemination of geotechnical data held on October 4 and 5, 2001. The concept that emerged from the workshop is a central hub that would function as a virtual data center through which data providers share as well as disseminate their data. Presentations during the first day showed that the development of a virtual center for web dissemination of linked geotechnical databases can be largely accomplished using existing technologies to link the organizational elements of the system. The primary needs are to: 1) define the functional requirements of a virtual center, 2) define data formats, data dictionaries, indexes, and exchange standards, and 3) define and link the organizational components of the overall system. The principal consensus recommendation for future development was that, initially, a pilot implementation of a virtual data center should be developed. The pilot system should involve several of largest data providers including California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), California Geological Survey (CGS), and the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). Building on this pilot system, the links could be expanded to include other data providers and the general user community.