An integrated approach to improving tsunami warning and mitigation

Summary form only given. NOAA has a goal to mitigate the tsunami hazard to Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and U.S. possessions in the Pacific region. Fulfilling this goal requires research, development and implementation of tsunami forecasts (with increased accuracy and speed) and the creation of state-of-the-art inundation maps. The strategy is to focus research and development on advanced technologies for: (a) field measurements using a real-time tsunami warning network and (b) numerical modeling-pre-computed databases of tsunami simulations for rapid forecasting of tsunami heights (tuned to particular tsunami events using data assimilation from the real-time buoy network) and inundation maps for threatened coastal communities (generated in cooperation with various institutions and agencies). The Project has also taken the lead in the creation of Web-based Tsunami Community Modeling Activities to share software, data, simulations, and expertise among institutions and agencies involved in tsunami modeling. This broad approach to tsunami mitigation is both necessary and a challenge since it requires the coordination and integration of instrument development, numerical modeling and Web-based implementation. The authors present examples of this work for Pacific tsunamis that are incident on Hawaii and the Oregon Coast