Benefit of Tsunameters
The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 that killed an estimated 169,000 and left hundreds of thousands homeless is just one example of the devastation caused by tsunamis. One major reason tsunamis have been the source of such widespread destruction is because they generally strike with little or no warning. However, scientists have been working on systems and networks of strategically placed tsunami-detection buoys, or tsunameters, that analyze tsunamis in real time, giving population centers in a tsunami's path time for preparation and evacuation.
DART and the First Tsunameter
According to the National Academy of Enginieering (NAE), the first tsunameter to be used in the Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) system was created at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) in Seattle, Washington in 1987. Able to detect and measure a tsunami with an amplitude as small as one centimeter in 6,000 meters of water, this buoy would then transmit its data to a surface buoy, which relays the information to a ground station via satellite. The DART network of tsunameters enables analysts to determine the tsunami's path, magnitude and destructive potential.
Financial Benefits
At a cost of about $250,000 per tsunameter station, the DART system, has saved the state of Hawaii millions of dollars since 2003. For example, a tsunami caused by an earthquake near Adak, Alaska, was interpreted by DART to be non-threatening to to the state's coastal areas. As a result, no warning was sent, saving Hawaii approximately $68 million in evacuation and other costs. In comparison, a 1986, pre-DART event in the same region was detected, prompting a $40 million evacuation of Hawaii's coastal areas. If the DART system had been in place at the time, the tsunami would have been assessed as harmless. The tsunami turned out to be less than a foot high when it struck.
Future of Tsunameters
According to the NAE, the next generation of tsunameters will incorporate numerical modeling technology to forecast tsunamis in real time for specific coastal towns and cities. The United States has committed $37.5 million to expand its tsunami warning and detection capabilities. With 32 new buoys, the DART system will expand coverage to all countries on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, extending nearly 100 percent coverage of the U.S.
International Network
Ironically, there is still no tsunami warning system in place in the Indian Ocean, site of the most destructive tsunami in modern history. According to the NAE, "Although there are thousands of moored and free-floating data buoys and thousands of land-based environmental stations around the world and more than 50 environmental satellites orbiting the globe, all providing millions of data sets, most of these cannot yet "talk" to each other." The Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) is a U.S.-led, international initiative to link these systems into global tsunami coverage. "Combined with efforts under way in the Indian Ocean, we will be casting a safety net across the world...," says the NAE.
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