Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
models of inundation of U.S. territories; (4) value of a station for after-the-fact model validation;
and (5) density (sparsity) of the observing network in the region.
Data Stream Risk Assessment and Data Availability
Recommendation:
NOAA should assess on a regular basis the vulnerabilities to, and
quality of, the data streams from all elements of the sea level networks, beginning with the
highest priority sites determined per the recommendations above.
Coastal station vulnerabilities can be assessed by the following: (1) whether the operat-
ing agency is committed to gauge maintenance, which can be assessed by the continuous
availability (or not) of the station's data on the IOC's Sea Level Station Monitoring Facility
(http://www.vliz.be/gauges/) and (2) whether the station adheres to the station requirements,
processing protocols, quality control procedures, distribution, long-term archiving, and retro-
spective access recommendations in the Tsunami Warning Center Reference Guide (U.S. Indian
Ocean Tsunami Warning System Program, 2007).
The risk assessments, along with the prioritization lists described above, could be used
to determine the following: (1) whether authority for a U.S. gauge should be transferred to a
different U.S. agency: for example, the TWCs have acknowledged that they do not have the
resources to properly maintain the gauges under their authority; authority for maintenance
of these gauges could be transferred to NOS/CO-OPS or the UHSLC, with appropriate funding;
(2) whether aid should be offered to an international partner; and (3) whether a substitute
gauge should be established in a nearby location.
Sea Level Network Oversight
Recommendation:
In view of (1) the declining performance of the DART network, (2) the
importance of both the DART and coastal sea level networks for tsunami detection
and forecasting, and (3) the overlapping jurisdictions among federal as well as non-
federal organizations, NOAA should establish a “Tsunami Sea Level Observation Network
Coordination and Oversight Committee” to oversee and review the accomplishment of the
recommendations listed above.
The committee would report to the management level within NOAA that has the respon-
sibility and authority for ensuring the success of the U.S. Tsunami Program. The oversight
committee would be most useful if its members represented a broad spectrum of the com-
munity concerned with tsunami detection and forecasting (e.g., forecasters, modelers, hard-
ware designers, operations and maintenance personnel) from academia, industry, and relevant
government agencies.
FORECASTING OF A TSUNAMI UNDER WAY
In contrast to inundation models used for evacuation planning in advance of an event (see
Chapter 2), near-real-time forecast models produce predictions after a seismic event has been
detected, but before tsunamis arrive at the coast, which is the ultimate goal of the monitoring
