EQC 2020 Biennial Grant

OBJECTIVE 1) Identify potential strengths and weaknesses of “low-latency EEW IOT MS sensor technologies"; i.e. reliable EEW solution that is trusted by their owners, resulting in them taking necessary protective actions to increase health and safety

Specific objective 1.1) examine different types of critical EEW applications that MS-IoT networks can measure up to in NZ,

Specific objective 1.2) explore how to measure the performance of MS sensor networks with issuing true alarms

Specific objective 1.3) explore the value of MS sensor data to GeoNet in modelling, analysis, and early warning.

OBJECTIVE 2) realize the dynamics of formal and informal collaborations and partnerships of a community-engaged citizen science (or citizen-led) approach to self-aligning and self-healing EEW applications with the use of low-cost IOT MS sensors owned and operated by citizens and communities; forming the initial community of practice aligned along the following specific lines of inquiry:

Specific objective 2.1) Explore the impact of low cost, widely accessible EEW applications-both technology and digital skills- for citizen-led MS sensors,

Specific objective 2.2) Identify the types of investment that need to improve citizen-led low-cost EEW applications

Specific objective 2.3) Explore the social and technical investments needed to build capacity at the community level for sustained training/technology initiatives.

OBJECTIVE 3) Propose an appropriate self-aligning and self-healing sensor network conceptual architecture consisting of low-cost MS devices to be built and operated by individual citizens in NZ and community groups.

Specific Objective 3.1) ability for each citizen-led MS device to exchange data with each other improving the reliability of true alarms; i.e. interoperable SEED or miniSEED

Specific Objective 3.2) investigate whether a prototypical MS-IoT sensor network embedded with spatial and temporal predictive analysis and statistical inference models is capable of improving the reliability of low-latency

Specific Objective 3.3) identify the design artefacts and configurations, elements of the design science research, required for addressing community defined EEW application types

At present, NZ’s primary earthquake warning generator, GNS Science’s centralized earthquake detection models supported by high-end seismographs, takes nearly 60 seconds to compute a robust earthquake location, and at present only disseminates post-earthquake information through the GeoNet website and mobile App. GeoNet is not currently issuing EEWs; therefore, there is no official EEW system available in NZ at present to warn the public. In its efforts to bridge the economic and technological gaps in fostering “low-latency EEW”, use of state-of-the-art Internet of Things (IoT) technology and Do-it-Yourself (DIY) Micro-seismic (MS) sensor technologies are emerging. However, at present, most of the MS-IoT solutions either work as isolated solutions serving only the owners or are constrained by telecommunications latency and centralized cloud-based processing for earthquake detection and warning. This leads to unexplored state-of-art research on “citizen-led self-aligning and self-healing IoT embedded systems” to foster low-cost EEW applications. Focusing on designing such an appropriate solution, this particular project is conducting one of the essential initial steps of broader research which aims to explore the feasibility of a community-engaged “citizen science” approach to EEW systems.

• Advances in low-damage design and engineering solutions for the built environment (Research Theme 3)
• Social and behavioural aspects of disaster risk reduction and improved resilience (Research Theme 4)
• Improved understanding of geological hazards (Research Theme 1)