System Identification of Constructed Facilities: Challenges and Opportunities Across Hazards

The motivation, success and prevalence of full-scale monitoring of constructed buildings vary considerably across the hazard of concern (earthquakes, strong winds, etc.), due in part to various fiscal and life safety motivators. Yet while the challenges of successful deployment and operation of large-scale monitoring initiatives are significant, they are perhaps dwarfed by the challenges of data management, interrogation and ultimately system identification. Practical constraints on everything from sensor density to the availability of measured input has driven the development of a wide array of system identification and damage detection techniques, which in many cases become hazard-specific. In this study, the authors share their experiences in fullscale monitoring of buildings across hazards and the associated challenges of system identification. The study will conclude with a brief agenda for next generation research in the area of system identification of constructed facilities.