Norman Abrahamson

Slug
abrahamson
Type
Faculty
Photo
Abrahamson headshot
Headshot
Norman Abrahamson
First Name
Norman
Last Name
Abrahamson
Email
abrahamson@berkeley.edu
Office
455 Davis Hall
Programs
GeoSystems
Titles
Adjunct Professor
Biography

Norman Abrahamson is a part-time Adjunct Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley.  Abrahamson’s research is in the interface between seismology and earthquake engineering, focusing on the practical application of advances in seismology to the development of ground-motion models for use in deterministic and probabilistic analyses for estimation of design ground motions and seismic risk. Abrahamson has extensive experience in the development of design ground motions for hundreds of projects, including dams, bridges, nuclear power plants, nuclear waste repositories, water and gas pipelines, rail lines, ports, landfills, hospitals, electric substations, and office buildings. About 2/3 of these projects have been in the Western U.S., and the other 1/3 have been in the Eastern US or outside of the US (e.g., Europe, New Zealand, Taiwan, Chile, Peru). 

Abrahamson's full list of publications can be found here.

Education

Ph.D., Geophysics, University of California at Berkeley, 1985
B.A., Geophysics, University of California at Berkeley, 1981

Research Interests
Earthquake ground motions, spectral attenuation relations
Research

Current research topics include:

  • Non-ergodic ground-motion models
  • Use of numerical simulations and empirical data for ground-motion models
  • Use of intensity data to constrain path effects in GMMs
  • Development of intensity prediction equations (IPE) and ground-motion-intensity conversion equations (GMICE)
  • Incorporation of radiation pattern effects into GMMs
  • Development of reference velocity profiles for GMM 
  • Kappa scaling for high-frequency ground motion
  • Duration of ground motion
  • Conditional ground-motion models for secondary parameters (AI, CAV, PGV, IP, FIV3)
  • Selection and modification of time histories for dynamic analyses of structures
Publications

Recent Publications

Journal Papers

• Abrahamson, N and W. Silva, "Summary of the Abrahamson & Silva NGA Ground-Motion Relations," Earthquake Spectra, February 2008, Vol. 24, pp. 67-97, doi: 10.1193/1.2924360.

• Abrahamson, N., G. Atkinson, D. Boore, Y. Bozorgnia, K. Campbell, B. Chiou, I.M. Idriss, W. Silva, and R. Youngs, "Comparisons of the NGA Ground-Motion Relations," Earthquake Spectra, February 2008, Vol. 24, pp. 45-66, doi: 10.1193/1.2924363.

• Power, M., B. Chiou, N. Abrahamson, Y. Bozorgnia, T. Shantz and C. Roblee, "An Overview of the NGA Project," Earthquake Spectra, February 2008, Vol. 24, pp. 3-21, doi: 10.1193/1.2894833.

• Walling, M., W. Silva and N. Abrahamson, "Nonlinear Site Amplification Factors for Constraining the NGA Models," Earthquake Spectra, February 2008, Vol. 24, 243-255, doi: 10.1193/1.2934350.

• Bommer, J.J. and N. Abrahamson, Reply to "Comment on 'Why do Modern Probabilistic Seismic-Hazard Analyses Often Lead to Increased Hazard Estimates?' by Julian J. Bommer and Norman A. Abrahamson" by Zhenming Wang and Mai Zhao, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, December 2007, Vol. 97, pp. 2215-2217.

• Bommer, J.J. and N. Abrahamson, Reply to "Comment on 'Why Do Modern Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analyses Often Lead to Increased Hazard Estimates?' by Julian J. Bommer and Norman A. Abrahamson" by Jens-Uwe Klugel, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, December 2007, Vol. 97, pp. 2208-2211, doi: 10.1785/0120070018.

• Strasser, F.O., J.J. Bommer and N. A. Abrahamson, "Truncation of the Distribution of Ground Motion Residuals," Journal of Seismology, December 2007, Vol. 12, pp. 79-105, doi: 10.1007/s10950-007-9073-z.

• Bommer, J.J. and N. Abrahamson, Review Article "Why do Modern Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analyses Often Lead to Increased Hazard Estimates?," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, December 2006, Vol. 96, pp. 1967-1977, doi: 10.1785/0120070018.

• Boore, D. M., J. Watson-Lamprey and N. A. Abrahamson, "Orientation-Independent Measures of Ground Motion," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, October 2006, Vol. 96, pp. 1502-1511, doi: 10.1785/0120050209.

• Watson-Lamprey, J. and N. Abrahamson, "Selection of Ground Motion Time Series and Limits on Scaling," Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, January 2006, Vol. 26, pp. 477-482, doi: 10.101/j.solidyn.2005.07.001.

• Hancock, J., J. Watson-Lamprey, N. Abrahamson, J. Bommer, A. Markatis, E. McCoy, and R. Mendis, "An Improved Method of Matching Response Spectra of Recorded Earthquake Ground Motions Using Wavelets," Journal of Earthquake Engineering, January 2006, Vol. 10, pp. 67-89, doi: 10.1142/S1363246906002736.

Conference Papers

• Abrahamson, N.A., "Seismic Hazard Assessment: Problems with Current Practice and Future Developments," Proceedings, First European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Geneva, Switzerland, September 2006, 17 pp.

Technical Reports

• Abrahamson, N.A. and J.J. Bommer, "Truncation of the Lognormal Distribution and Value of the Standard Deviation of Ground Motion Models in the Central and Eastern U.S." Electrical Power Research Institute, Report TR-1014381, August 2006, 70 pp.