What is meant by aggregated data versus site specific data?
In HAZUS, aggregated data is combined inventory data. This is data grouped by census geography — tract for Hurricane & Earthquake models; block for Flood model. In other words, the location of the inventory data is grouped into (aggregated up to) a defined area of geography. Although this generalizes the data, it has advantages in that data can often times be easier to understand when it is presented by “area”, especially in the form of a map where visual patterns can often be more distinctive. Aggregated data in HAZUS, primarily refers to ‘General Building Stock’ — an inventory category that represents (models) all buildings in that specified census geography. Demographics are another type of aggregated data, as well as several other categories in HAZUS. Site specific data, on the other hand, is data represented by it’s latitude-longitude locations. In other words, it is not grouped (or aggregated). In HAZUS, site specific data includes Essential Facilities, Transportation Systems,
