The California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program (CSMIP) was established in 1972 by California Legislation to obtain vital earthquake data for the engineering and scientific communities through a statewide network of strong motion instruments. When the planned network is completed, statewide coverage will ensure that strong ground motion for any moderate to larger size earthquake in the state will be recorded.

The NEES@UCSB facility consists of permanently-instrumented geotechnical test sites designed to improve our understanding of the effects of surface geology on strong ground motion. The instrumentation at these sites includes surface and borehole arrays of accelerometers and pore pressure transducers designed to record strong ground motions, excess pore pressure generation and liquefaction that occurs during large earthquakes. An instrumented structure is also monitored to improve our understanding of soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) effects.