1. Real-Time Tsunami Forecast Animations for SOS
Nathan Becker
NOAA/NWS/PTWC
Leon Geschwind
NOAA/NOS/OCM

2. How it worked
Seismic data processing and analysis methods at PTWC are necessarily optimized for speed
Preliminary earthquake analysis takes ~5 minutes
Detailed earthquake information in ~25 minutes
PTWC’s real-time tsunami forecast model is also built for speed
Uses detailed earthquake information
Can calculate a whole-ocean forecast at 4-min resolution (5400 x 2700 global pixels) in ~15 minutes
Animation code also built for speed
YouTube: ~30 minutes (1080p)
Science on a Sphere: ~2.5 hours (4096 x 2048)

3. Why it worked Modern computers Planned public outreach efforts
12 processing cores
48 Gb RAM
Planned public outreach efforts
March 2014 was the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and its tsunami
April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii
ASEAN conference held at new NOAA facility in Hawaii on 2 April 2014

4. Deep-Ocean Wave-Height Forecast

5. Costal Wave-Height Forecast

6. Earthquake occurred on 1 April 2014 at 23:46 Z (1:46 pm HST)
Quake parameters:
19.610°S, °W
25 km deep
MW = 8.2
6 deaths, 9 injured, ~2500 homes damaged
Tsunami runups:
>3 m in northern Chile
>20 cm in Hawaii
~60 cm in Japan (obs.)

7. Alarms notify PTWC scientists of the earthquake one minute later

8. PTWC issues its first Tsunami Warning 8 minutes after the earthquake
Tsunami Warning for:
Chile
Peru
Ecuador
Tsunami Watch for:
Columbia
Panama
Costa Rica

9. PTWC canceled its Tsunami Warnings ~5 hours after the earthquake
PTWC then put
Hawaii under a Tsunami Advisory

10. SOS Animation Finished ~11 hours after the quake at 10:55 Z (12:55 am HST)

11. PTWC canceled the Tsunami Advisory for Hawaii at 7:25 am HST, ~12:40 after it began
~3:40 after first arrival

12. NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathy Sullivan presents the SOS animation to ASEAN participants
2 April 2014
9:12 am HST

13. Tsunami propagation at the time of Dr. Sullivan’s presentation

14. The Future Automate the animation generation Develop a formal policy:
Part of the new TWC Operations System (TOPS) software?
Develop a formal policy:
When to release?
And to whom?
Education and outreach
YouTube
SOS docents!

15. Docent Training Create a SOS library of historic tsunamis
Use a consistent color scheme

18. Alternate color schemes
The current color scheme is the one used for scientific analysis at PTWC but may not be optimal for non-experts
Color scheme should be intuitive
Color scheme should be meaningful

19. Old and Proposed New Colors applied to Chile 2010

20. New Color Scheme applied to Japan 2011

21. New Color Scheme applied to Cascadia 1700

22. New Color Scheme applied to Lisbon 1755

23. Other Tsunami-Relevant Datasets
Global topography and bathymetry