The RAPID Facility The RAPID Facility enables transformative research by providing investigators with the resources, software, and support needed to collect, process, and analyze perishable data from natural hazard events and disasters. Learn mor

The RAPID Facility

The RAPID Facility enables transformative research by providing investigators with the resources, software, and support needed to collect, process, and analyze perishable data from natural hazard events and disasters.
Learn more

RAPID Training The RAPID Facility trains investigators to use state-of-the-art reconnaissance resources. Our popular one-week hands-on training takes place in July at our headquarters at the University of Washington in Seattle. Learn more

RAPID Training

The RAPID Facility trains investigators to use state-of-the-art reconnaissance resources. Our popular one-week hands-on training takes place in July at our headquarters at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Learn more

Science Plan The RAPID Facility's Science Plan emphasizes acquiring and integrating data across disciplines over a range of temporal, spatial, and social scales. The Science Plan is published in an open-access article. Read the article

Science Plan

The RAPID Facility's Science Plan emphasizes acquiring and integrating data across disciplines over a range of temporal, spatial, and social scales. The Science Plan is published in an open-access article.
Read the article

Want to work with RAPID?

The RAPID Facility's mission is to enable transformative research by providing natural hazard and disaster researchers with the resources and support needed to collect, process, and analyze perishable data from extreme events. These unique open datasets serve various purposes, including developing and calibrating scientific natural hazard simulation models.

Recent RAPID Projects

Featured
Oso Landslide
Oso Landslide

Our drone-mounted aerial lidar scanners were recently deployed to the site of the 2014 Oso Landslide to map changes to the area over the past decade.

Hurricane Hilary
Hurricane Hilary

RAPID Facility staff deployed with terrestrial LiDAR to support the Center for Land-Surface Hazards (CLaSH) to document damage in Death Valley National Park and San Bernardino County following Hurricane Hilary in 2023.

Freshwater Algae Blooms
Freshwater Algae Blooms

Typical water sampling can leave gaps in assessing entire bodies of water. Our multispectral camera was mounted to a UAS platform to calculate algae bloom indices of a lake.

What’s New

Featured
RAPID Facility: Supporting Immediate and Long-term Research on the Los Angeles Wildfires
RAPID Facility: Supporting Immediate and Long-term Research on the Los Angeles Wildfires

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.

2025 NHERI RAPID Workshop
2025 NHERI RAPID Workshop

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.

NIH-NSF Partnership
NIH-NSF Partnership

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.