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Data formats > Catalogs > Ground motion catalog

Ground motion catalog - description

Ground Motion Catalog – General Description

The catalog is a variable in the Matlab format file and it is kept in a file MAT. The structure is an array with named fields that can contain data of various types and sizes. In the file there is only one variable, the file name and variable name are optional.
The format of the ground motion catalog is made in the same manner as a catalog of seismic events

The variable describing the catalog is a vector of structures, consisting of fields:

  • field – name of field in the catalog (text value);
  • type – type of field in the catalog and way of showing the field (numeric value);
  • val – column array of values. For the text the column is an array type cell with text fields. For the remaining value the column is a numeric column.
  • unit – description of unit for individual data (text value).
  • description – short description of the parameter (text value).
  • fieldType – semantic meaning of the field. When some field values are similar/related then fieldType name is entered and for another case [] is entered.

The fundamental is a full catalog i.e. the variable contains the definitions of all specified fields. When some field values are missing then for the numeric data NaN (not specified) is entered and for the text null [] is entered. In the fields "ID", "Time" and at least one of the fields "PGA" values in all rows must be present.

Table The general parameters in catalog MAT format

fieldtypeunitdescriptionfieldTypeCommentsData format
RID3Registration IDrequired field. ID must be linked to the name of the signal accelerogramtext
EID3Event IDrequired field. ID should be linked to catalog EIDtext
Time5Event origin timerequired field, Matlab serial numerical timedouble
SID3Station IDrequired fieldtext
S_name3Station namerequired fieldtext
S_Lat24,25degStation latituderequired fielddouble
S_Long24,25,34,35degStation longituderequired fielddouble
S_Elevation10mStation elevationrequired fielddouble
R_Time5daysRegistration occurrence timerequired fielddouble
PGA_E13m/s^2Peak ground acceleration of E componentPGArequired fielddouble
PGA_N13m/s^2Peak ground acceleration of N componentPGAdouble
PVA13m/s^2Peak vertical accelerationPGAdouble
PHA13m/s^2Peak horizontal accelerationPGAdouble
PGA13m/s^2Total peak ground accelerationPGAdouble
RMS_A21m/s^2Root-mean-square accelerationPGAdouble
PGV_E13cm/sPeak ground velocity of E componentPGVdouble
PGV_N13cm/sPeak ground velocity of N componentPGVdouble
PVV13cm/sPeak vertical velocity componentPGVdouble
PHV13cm/sPeak horizontal velocityPGVdouble
PGV13cm/sTotal peak ground velocityPGVdouble
RMS_V21cm/sRoot-mean-square velocityPGVdouble
PGD_E13mmPeak ground displacement of E componentPGDdouble
PGD_N13mmPeak ground displacement of N componentPGDdouble
PVD13mmPeak vertical displacement componentPGDdouble
PHD13mmPeak horizontal displacementPGDdouble
PGD13mmTotal peak ground displacementPGDdouble
RMS_D21mmRoot-mean-square displacementPGDdouble
AI6m/sArias Intensitydouble
NED6m/s^2Normalized Energy Densitydouble
ABD21sAbsolute bracketed durationDurationA problem with absolute durations relies on that one must prescribe for them absolute criteria. Maybe they should not be included in the catalog but to implement an appropriate service to evaluate them?double
AUD21sAbsolute uniform durationDurationdouble
AED21sAbsolute effective durationDurationdouble
RBD21sRelative bracketed durationDurationFor relative durations criteria must be prescribed too but here there is a general agreement for 5%double
RUD21sRelative uniform durationDurationdouble
RED21sRelative effective durationDurationdouble

The Numbers of Data type:
1 – the real data without limits,
2 – the integer data,
3 – text value,
4 – the real number rounded to 0.1 (shown as 11),
5 – time in Matlab format serial time – the time display format; seconds with accuracy 1/10,
6 – the real data display in an engineering manner with one decimal place, e.g.: 3.5E6, (obsolete, recommended 2cd)
7 – the real data display in an engineering manner with two decimal place, (obsolete, recommended 2cd)
bc – (b and c are code digits) the real data display in fix-point manner with at minimum b places before decimal and c decimal place
e.g. For number 3.149.
10: „3”
11: „3.1”
12: „3.15”
20: „03”
23: „03.149”
1bc– the same manner as bc, but with place for a sign (space for sign „+”, sign - for sign „-”)
2cd– (c and d are code digits), the real data is displayed in an engineering manner, with place for a sign (space for sign „+”, sign ‘-’ for sign „-”), with c decimal place and exponent expressed by d places. The sign in exponent is always displayed.
e.g. For number 0.001:
211: „1.0E-3”
221: „1.00E-3”
212: „1.0E-03”
222: „1.00E-03”
e.g. For number 1000:
211: „1.0E+3”
221: „1.00E+3”
212: „1.0E+03”
222: „1.00E+03”