Mapping soil effects in Barcelona, Spain, through an integrated GIS environment

Maps of soil response for the city of Barcelona have been for the first time obtained through a GIS environment that integrates the different procedures for soil response estimation within a single tool. These maps constitute part of the results of the local scale application of the computer prototype for seismic risk assessment that was developed within the European project SERGISAI. The approach involves: collection of available data relevant to local geology, implementation of geotechnical models, estimation of the reference seismic action, generation of synthetic strong-motion time histories, and soil response calculation through 1D analytical method. The resulting predictive hazard maps of predominant period and amplification ratio delineate potential variations on ground shaking and constitute a first approximation towards an integrated approach to Barcelona urban area microzonation. Analysis of the observed differences, when comparing the analytical results in this study with previous empirical studies, provides a useful feedback to establish site dependence suitability and reliability of methods, to extract information on at-present inaccessible parameters needed for the characterisation of physical properties of soil, and also to delimit those areas where further in-depth survey research is needed for a proper seismic hazard assessment.

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