TsunamiCast: A Web-Based and Cloud Capable Tsunami Modeling Tool

With the move from historically desktop-based technologies towards the cloud, it was inevitable that some tsunami research applications would also follow this path. This talk describes TsunamiCast, a web-based tsunami modeling application that was developed by the NOAA Center for Tsunami Research for research use by domestic and international partners. While the TsunamiCast tool centralizes forecast infrastructure, it also builds on existing distributed tools that allow for localized tsunami inundation product generation. TsunamiCast is an aggregator for distributed tsunami products and allows a central access point for tsunami event forecast tools and products. This talk describes the NOAA tsunami forecast methodology on which design of the TsunamiCast application is based. The technologies, system architecture, challenges and implementation details of the application will be highlighted. The use of TsunamiCast as a model testbed, distributed forecast tools, and their integration into TsunamiCast will be discussed.