Tsunami activity under Group on Earth Observation

The ad hoc Group on Earth Observation (GEO) established as their first working group, the WG on Tsunami Activities at EOS-3 (Earth Observation Summit-3) in February 2005 in Brussels. This topic was identified as the case exercise for GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems). The Terms of Reference for the Working Group are to facilitate the coordination of international programmes on disaster prevention and mitigation, develop a multi-hazard multi-purpose approach to early warning and crisis management, promote the interoperability and compatibility of warning and mitigation systems through the development of standards and protocols, facilitate the development of high-level commitments to warning and mitigation systems, and support and help ensure durability of capacity building related to infrastructure and people training and education in all countries. Meeting in Perth, Geneva, Rome, and Paris in the year since its formation, the Working Group has determined which tasks are being addressed by existing efforts and which require GEO action. Regional meetings for the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and northeastern Atlantic including Europe have been held. A hazard map exists for the Mediterranean Sea but it is not yet at a sufficiently high resolution to determine local hazards and has not yet been combined with population densities to produce a risk map. This serves as an example of what must be done in the coastal regions of the world. To generate such a hazard map, bathymetric data from 20 to 30 meters depth to the shore and coastal topography inland must be obtained, across political borders where required. Seismic detection already well implemented in parts of the world must be integrated in real time through data networks to earthquake centers at high-bandwidth. Interchange of data requires communications standards that are still to be defined in some parts of the seismic data network. The set of seven deep-sea pressure sensors, six of which are installed in the Pacific, are being increased in number to 39 over the next three years to extend coverage to the Caribbean, South Pacific and Atlantic. These detect the passage of a tsunami and acoustically relay the pressure deviation information to a nearby surface buoy where it is telemetered to a satellite for relay to the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC). From the ITIC, alerts will be distributed to member nations´ tsunami centers by a system yet to be defined. Presently warnings for the Indian Ocean are distributed by NOAA´s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and the Japanese Meteorological Agency. The local distribution of alerts is complex and no single scheme has been adopted or is appropriate. In the U.S., Emergency Alert System (EAS) warnings go to radio and TV stations and to NOAA Weather Radio. Acoustic sirens, telephones and other systems are also used as warnings. Possibilities for using the GPS Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) navigational correction system from unused channel capacity on geosynchronous satellites is an attractive possibility. Even automatic triggering of alarms on cell phones is possible, offering a system that is widespread in those parts of the world that have limited ground line connectivity and a use that in receive mode does not even require that cell towers remain standing and powered. GEO, as a ministerial body, recommends to the nations represented that systems be adopted and standards accepted. GEO seeks to coordinate warning and mitigation efforts across nations, institutions, and agencies within nations.