Modeling and On-the-Fly Solutions for Solid Earth Sciences: Web Services and Data Portal for Earthquake Early Warning System

We report on a unified on-the-fly, Web services-based observation/analysis/modeling environment for crustal deformation and natural hazards research, intended as a plug-in service for early warning systems, transfer of rapid information to civilian decision makers and the media, and educational purposes. We demonstrate an early warning system for a large earthquake in southern California using the components developed under several NASA-funded projects, including real-time GPS network infrastructure, Geophysical Resources Web Services, and GPS Explorer data portal with its on-the-fly earthquake modeling software. We generate an on-the-fly earthquake fault model based on simulated real-time (dynamic and coseismic) displacements computed by the GPS network, and viewable through GPS Explorer. Our objective is to demonstrate an operational service that could be transitioned to appropriate civilian agencies in southern California.