Improving tsunami warning using commercial ships

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 39; no. 9
• Main Authors: Foster, James H., Brooks, Benjamin A., Wang, Dailin, Carter, Glenn S., Merrifield, Mark A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2012; American Geophysical Union; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Earthquakes; Exact sciences and technology; Geobiology; Geodetic surveys; Geodetics; Global positioning systems; GPS; Hazards; Satellite communications; sea surface height; Seismic activity; Space; Tsunamis; South America; Indian Ocean; Chile; satellites; detection; cost; projects; Observational network; Position; Space remote sensing; streams; kinematics; Satellite observation; global; monitoring; earthquakes; Real time system; platforms; Global Positioning System; Mitigation; Ship observation; solution; tsunamis; infrastructures; Natural hazards
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2012GL051367

Accurate and rapid detection and assessment of tsunamis is critical for effective mitigation. We show here that a modest ∼10 cm tsunami from the M8.8 27 Feb 2010 Maule, Chile earthquake was detected by kinematic Global Positions System (GPS) solutions from a ship underway in the open ocean ‐ the first time shipboard tsunami detection has been achieved. Our results illustrate how the commercial shipping fleet represents a vast infrastructure of potential open ocean GPS platforms on shipping lanes that provide extremely good spatial coverage around most tsunamigenic source regions. Given the affordability of geodetic GPS systems, and ever‐improving satellite communications, it would be possible to equip a significant portion of the shipping fleet with real‐time‐streamed GPS systems and create a cost‐effective tsunami monitoring network with denser and more distributed coverage. We project that such a system would have detected the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in less than an hour. Key Points A 10 cm tsunami was detected in the open ocean using ship‐borne GPS Key tsunami wave parameters can be estimated, even for moderate to small signals The commercial shipping fleet could be used to form a tsunami monitoring network