NOVEMBER 2008
SPA pilot tested the Rapid Observation of Vulnerability and Estimation of Risk (ROVER) software with the Los Angeles Unified School District, as part of LAUSD’s participation in the Great Southern California ShakeOut. ROVER is open-source software for Windows Mobile smartphone and PC to implement and enhance the FEMA 154 tool for pre-earthquake rapid visual of buildings for potential seismic risk. ROVER also implements and enhances the ATC-20 post-earthquake building safety evaluation procedure. ROVER will ultimately integrate with the US Geological Survey’s free ShakeCast software. Among other tasks, ShakeCast watches USGS Internet servers for notice of the occurrence of earthquakes that can damage a user’s portfolio of facilities, estimates safety tag color, and automatically alerts users with its damage estimates via email or SMS. In 2 days surrounding the ShakeOut, LAUSD inspectors tested both the pre- and post-earthquake modules of ROVER on a campus of school buildings in the San Fernando Valley, demonstrating that the system works and can facilitate LAUSD’s efforts to manage its seismic risk. ROVER has been developed in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Applied Technology Council, and Instrumental Software Technologies, Inc. For a brief overview, click here. For more detail, click here.