GIS Division

The GIS Division at GEO-HAZ Consulting is in charge of quantitative spatial analysis and map production. Our GIS workstations include networked PC computers necessary for intensive manipulation of maps and images. We have adapted commercial raster-based software such as Idrisi v.2 for Windows with our own proprietary expert system modules, to customize them for hazards analysis. We also rely on standard vector-based software such as ArcInfo, MapInfo, and CartaLinx. The output of both types of software is plotted on large-format color inkjet plotters.

At GEO-HAZ, we capitalize on the power of GIS systems to solve complex equations over both large and small spatial domains. This may take the form of predicting earthquake shaking or ground response at sites over large regions, in response to particular earthquake scenarios. A GIS can perform hundreds of "sensitivity analyses" for earthquake response by slightly varying input factors such as earthquake location, magnitude, and seasonal groundwater levels.

In past projects, GEO-HAZ has:

·        Developed a prototype GIS procedure for the U.S. Geological Survey to predict the probable locations of earthquake-induced landsliding associated with future earthquakes in the Seattle region.

·        Produced landslide-susceptibility maps for the 550-square-kilometer Kingston (Jamiaca) Metropolitan Area

·        Devised procedures for producing GIS-generated 1:24,000 seismic hazard maps in Utah.

GIS is also useful for least-cost or least-disturbance route planning, such as for highway, pipeline, or transmission line right-of-ways. By using least-friction pathway algorithms, we identify routes with minimimum costs, whether those costs are economic or environmental. By weighting the cost factors and using a GIS, we can also analyze the sensitivity of identified lowest-cost routes to various scenarios of cost and environmental/esthetic factors.

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