NOAA's Tsunami Program is a key contributor to a Weather Ready Nation. The sequence of tsunami-related disasters across the globe over the past 10 years has significantly heightened awareness and preparation activities associated with these high-impact events. Recent developments in tsunami modeling capability, inundation forecasting, sensing networks, dissemination capability and local preparation and mitigation activities have gone a long way toward enhancing tsunami resilience within the United States.
This presentation will consist of a brief overview of the components and drivers of NOAA's Tsunami Program, and how it is integrated within NOAA's Strategic Goals and the Weather Ready Nation Roadmap. Updates will be provided on emerging modeling capabilityspecifically the recent operational transition of the Short-Term Inundation Forecast for Tsunami (SIFT) model developed at the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab. Capabilities and limitations of both seismic and sea-level sensing capabilities will be discussed including technologies being considered to augment the current Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART®) network. Activities and initiatives by NOAA's state and local partners to mitigate and prepare for tsunami impacts to US populations will also be reviewed. Finally, an update on efforts to deliver next-generation IT and dissemination capabilities to NOAA's operational Tsunami Warning Centers will be provided.
It is a matter of when, not if, the mainland US will be impacted by a major tsunamipossibly to the level of the devastating 11 March 2011 Tohoku event. NOAA's Tsunami Program is engaged in a wide range of activities across many organizations to ensure a Weather Ready Nation is prepared for the tsunami threat.
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