SHINE: Web application for determining the horizontal stress orientation

•SHINE incorporates an innovative interpolation technique and a user-friendly GUI.•SHINE quickly visualizes results, downloadable in several formats.•SHINE rationale is summed up by 3 words: usability, effectiveness and efficiency.

Interpolating the orientation of the maximum horizontal compressive stress with a well-established procedure is fundamental in understanding the present-day stress field. This paper documents the design principles, strategies and architecture of SHINE (http://shine.rm.ingv.it/), a web-based application for determining the maximum horizontal compressive stress orientation. The interpolation using SHINE can be carried out from a global database or from a custom file uploaded by the user. SHINE satisfies the usability requirements by striving for effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) covering ergonomics of human-computer interactions. Our main goal was to build a web-based application with a strong “outside-in” strategy in order to make the interpolation technique available to a wide range of Earth Science disciplines. SHINE is an easy-to-use web application with a straightforward interface guaranteeing quick visualization of the results, which are downloadable in several formats. SHINE is offered as an easy and convenient web service encouraging global data sharing and scientific research collaboration. Within this paper, we present a possible use of SHINE, determining fault kinematics compatibility with respect to the present-day stress field.

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