Structural arrays consist of multiple sensors within a building or structure. They provide data to help engineers understand how the structure responds to shaking or vibration.
The GeoNet building instrumentation programme aims to install instrumentation in representative buildings (commercial and residential) and bridges throughout New Zealand to gain insights into the earthquake engineering performance of those structures.
The main objective of the programme is to provide high quality data to enable the validation of building standards, design code, modelling assumptions and fragility functions – leading to safer buildings.
Apart from considerable gains in knowledge by the engineering and regulatory communities enabled by the primary purpose of this programme, the data collected enables additional long-term benefits. These include insights into both short and long term structural health, identification of the cause of damage sustained as a result of an earthquake, and refinement of seismic loss and risk estimates.
The building instrumentation programme considers the distribution of seismic hazard and structures in New Zealand to identify typical and representative samples to instrument and monitor their response.
Although all data from the GeoNet structural array programme are freely available for scientific and engineering users, we currently require you to register your interest with us first.
Please complete a request to use building array data in writing, outlining the purpose and nature of their research. This request needs to be sent to the GeoNet Data Centre Manager. The application must list all structures you intend to download data from.
Note that, if requested by a building owner, GNS Science will supply a list of users who have been given data collected from their building.
We are intending on updating this data policy to align it with the wider GeoNet data access policy and mechanisms.
Structures have been primarily instrumented with high-fidelity solid-state accelerometers.
In selected structures the accelerometers have been supplemented with displacement sensors and multiparameter weather stations.
These are sampled at 200Hz and streamed in real time to GNS data centres.
| Structure | City | Opened | Site Code | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury University Physics Building | Christchurch | 2007 | CPXB | Operational |
| GNS Science, Avalon | Wellington | 2007 | AVAB | Operational |
| BNZ CentrePort Building | Wellington | 2009 | CPLB | Structure Demolished |
| Wellington Hospital | Wellington | 2009 | WHSB | Operational |
| Te Horo House (timber building) | Otaki | 2010 | THOB | Operational |
| Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology | Nelson | 2011 | NMIB | Operational |
| Victoria University of Wellington Student Accommodation Building | Wellington | 2011 | VUWB | Operational |
| Majestic Centre | Wellington | 2011 | MJCB | Operational |
| Thorndon Flyover | Wellington | 2011 | TDFB | Operational |
| Hawke's Bay Regional Council | Napier | 2011 | HBRB | Operational |
| Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology | Christchurch | 2012 | CPIB | Operational |
| West Quay apartment building | Napier | 2012 | WQAB | Operational |
| Tunnel Road Rail Overpass | Christchurch | 2013 | TRAB | Operational |
| Tunnel Road Overpass | Christchurch | 2013 | TROB | Operational |
| MBIE Stout Street Building | Wellington | 2014 | STSB | Operational |
| Jervios Street House | Christchurch | 2014 | JSCB | Operational |
| Canterbury University Business and Law Building | Christchurch | 2016 | CBLB | Operational |
| Christchurch Women's Hospital | Christchurch | 2019 | CWHB | Operational |
| Canterbury University Civil and Mechanical Building | Christchurch | 2019 | CCMB | Operational |
| Canterbury University James Hight Library Building | Christchurch | 2019 | CJHB | Operational |
The programme is governed by an advisory panel and led from within the GeoNet Programme.
The advisory panel is formed from the following representative groups: