Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Director Co-Edits Tsunami Textbook
Lauren Koellermeier
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
February 13, 2009 - NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Director Eddie Bernard recently co-edited a new textbook on tsunamis. The book, entitled The Sea: Tsunamis, is volume fifteen in a Harvard University Press series dedicated to sharing ideas and observations regarding ocean research.
Eddie Bernard at the dedication of the Indonesia tsunami warning system back in November 2008. Bernard gave out the first copy of his book to Professor Ir. Andrianto Handojo, who is chairman of the National Research Council of Indonesia. Image credit: NOAA.
Bernard and co-editor Allan Robinson of Harvard University follow the most destructive tsunami in our world’s recent history and provide information intended for a new generation of tsunami scientists. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed 227,000 people and caused $10 billion in damage, according to official estimates. The event clearly demonstrated the need for a global tsunami monitoring system with state-of-the-art tsunami forecasting and warning capabilities, to avoid such death and damages in the future. Bernard and other tsunami experts from around the globe collaborated to produce a single textbook that addresses the technical elements of tsunami science today.
Over the past 20 years, PMEL has identified the requirements of a tsunami measurement system through evolution in both technology and knowledge of deep ocean tsunami dynamics. This resulted in the creation of Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis buoys, also known as DART buoys, now positioned around the globe. When tsunamis occurred in the past, often only inaccurate seismic and tide gauge data were available on which to base a warning. This system resulted in unnecessary evacuations or provided insufficient time for people to take appropriate action.
With DART buoys, seismic data is now processed with actual sea level information as the tsunami wave passes over a DART buoy so that the system can report back to the Tsunami Warning Centers. The centers process this information to produce a more refined, accurate forecast. With this new technology, forecasters are able to predict exactly when a tsunami wave will arrive, how long the event will last, and how high the waves will be at specific locations along the affected coastline.
The Sea: Tsunamis includes chapters on the recorded and geologic history of tsunamis; how the probability of the tsunami risk is assessed; the dynamics of tsunami generation; measurement and modeling of tsunami propagation and inundation; impacts of tsunamis on coastlines; and tsunami forecasts and warnings. Other NOAA contributors include Vasily Titov (PMEL), Paul Whitmore (West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center), and Harold Mofjeld (PMEL, retired). For more information on PMEL’s tsunami program, please visit http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov. The Sea: Tsunamis can be ordered online at http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/BERTSU.html?show=catalogcopy.