Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Many radar stations installed along the coast are threatened by the Cascadia subduction
zone (e.g., see http://bragg.coas.oregonstate.edu/). With software enhancements, these
stations, and new ones in critical locations, could be key elements of a rapid warning system for
near-ield events. The radar stations are typically installed on high bluffs overlooking the shore,
above any possible inundation. The potential for a broad user base of HF radar data in many
locations would help justify the expense of installation and operations, resulting in enhanced
sustainability.
Conclusion:
Tsunami detection, warning, and preparedness activities for tsunamis arriving
within minutes to an hour or so could beneit from existing, alternative technologies
for rapid detection, especially considering the current sensor network's limitations for
detecting tsunami earthquakes and tsunamis generated by submarine landslides.
Recommendation:
For the purpose of developing more rapid and accurate warnings
of local tsunamis, especially along the Washington and Oregon coasts, the committee
recommends that the TWCs coordinate with the NEPTUNE-Canada and OOI observatory
managers to ensure that their seismic and bottom pressure data are (or will be) made
available in near-real time to the appropriate telecommunications gateways. Data
interpretation tool(s), jointly applied to the seismic and bottom pressure data, will need to
be developed to realize the most rapid tsunami detection possible.
Other NTHMP member states could seek similar opportunities to utilize existing and/or
planned systems (including coastal HF radars) for the detection and warning of local tsunamis.
It must be emphasized that investment for this adaptation would be minimal, because the
observatories are being constructed and will be maintained with funds external to the U.S.
Tsunami Program; thus, the beneit could be substantial.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The previous sections of this chapter have made it clear that present technologies and
methodologies for evaluating the potential of earthquakes to produce dangerous tsunamis,
and for detecting and forecasting those tsunamis, are far from the ideal of having an accurate
and complete forecast of the expanding tsunami wave train within a few minutes of the initiat-
ing rupture. It is appropriate therefore to briely review nascent technologies and methodolo-
gies that might be able to improve the ability of the U.S. TWCs and their international counter-
parts to provide quicker and more accurate tsunami warnings. Some of these technologies and
methodologies, like the undersea, cabled observatories discussed in the previous section, are
already available, simply waiting for the appropriate testing and software development to be
integrated into the TWCs warning processes. Others require much more development before
they will become useful.
Technologies such as satellite altimetry, passive microwave radiometry, ionospheric
perturbation detection, and real-time kinematic-global positioning system (RTK-GPS) buoys
