Modernising earthquake simulation workflows
This presentation documents a transformative modernisation of the scientific workflow currently used for earthquake-induced ground motion simulations and hazard assessment in New Zealand. Starting with a rigid legacy codebase, we have adopted the latest standards of software engineering and computational science to develop a unified workflow. The new workflow architecture is flexible enough to accommodate custom workflows for individual researchers, and the next iteration of the ‘Cybershake NZ’ project, simulating thousands of rupture scenarios from the NZ National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM). Through our modernisation, we have enhanced scientific reproducibility by introducing a containerised software stack, adopting Cylc for workflow management, and leveraging software engineering practices such as code review and GitHub Actions for rapid iteration through continuous testing.
Our new workflow also addresses new scientific challenges in ground motion simulations from the latest NSHM – specifically, multi-fault rupture simulations involving many faults spanning the length of the country. We have also enabled the development of near real-time simulations of recorded earthquakes integrating with GeoNet directly, opening new possibilities for rapid earthquake analysis to inform disaster response, as well as significantly enhancing public science communication. This talk will share the lessons learned in enabling these advances, and outline the future changes aimed at catalysing research through software.
We also acknowledge NeSI for the computational resources enabling our work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jake Faulkner is an early-career research software engineer at the University of Canterbury. His work involves developing scientific code and providing support for research within QuakeCoRE: The NZ Centre for Earthquake Resilience. With an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a Master’s in Mathematics, Jake specialises in applying computational methods to scientific research. Jake is currently leading the development of the new scientific workflow for ground motion simulations.
-----
For more information about the eResearch NZ / eRangahau Aotearoa conference, visit:
https://eresearchnz.co.nz/
