The RAPID Facility is excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2026 RAPID Graduate Student Scholars Program! This annual program is designed to expand the next generation of natural hazards and disaster researchers by providing hands-on training, funding, and direct access to RAPID’s state-of-the-art field instrumentation and data collection resources.

Graduate student scholars receive a unique opportunity to develop expertise in collecting, processing, and publishing high-quality data that advance research across engineering, public health, and the social sciences. Through one-on-one training and supported field deployments, participants gain practical skills that strengthen both their research and future careers.

The RAPID Facility has released a new 4-page data brief providing a comprehensive overview of high-resolution aerial imagery and 3D models collected from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. This guide explains what makes the dataset unique, describes the three primary data products (orthomosaics, 3D point clouds, and digital surface models), and offers clear instructions for accessing the data through web-based tools and the NHERI DesignSafe Data Depot. The brief outlines how diverse users—from scientists and planners to educators and community members—can apply this building-level damage assessment data to wildfire risk reduction and community resilience work. Whether exploring the data for the first time or planning detailed analysis, this brief serves as an essential starting point for understanding this critical post-disaster dataset from the Palisades and Eaton Fire burn areas.

RAPID Facility Director Dr. Joseph Wartman published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "California mastered earthquake safety. Will it do the same for wildfires?" drawing on lessons from California's successful earthquake preparedness efforts to address critical gaps in wildfire mitigation. The piece contrasts the state's half-century investment in seismic safety—including permanent oversight bodies, mandatory retrofits, and public education—with the fragmented wildfire response revealed by the January 2025 Los Angeles fires after-action review. With losses from those fires exceeding $100 billion, the op-ed argues California faces the same choice it made 50 years ago for earthquakes: accept catastrophic losses as inevitable or take sustained action to prevent them. This analysis builds on RAPID Facility reconnaissance support efforts from the January fires.

Our 2025 NHERI RAPID 4-Day Intensive Hands-On Workshop was held on July 22-25. Congratulations to our new Advanced Users, who traveled to our University of Washington location in Seattle to get hands-on experience with our instrument portfolio.

See our training page for upcoming training opportunities with the RAPID Facility.

In coordination with a UCLA-led multi-institutional research team, the RAPID facility is currently collecting extensive baseline data in the immediate aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires, creating a unique opportunity for longitudinal studies. We invite researchers to leverage this foundation of baseline data for both immediate investigations and long-term studies.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NSF are partnering to enhance the RAPID Facility’s offerings in technical instrumentation, training, and resources for researchers collecting perishable exposure and health data after disasters. This collaboration seeks to integrate extreme weather science with essential health research, advancing disaster response efforts.

We have recently upgraded our UAS-Drone system with a new long-endurance flight platform that enables airborne lidar collection across large areas.