GITEWS

Concept

The german concept for the implementation of a tsunami early warning system for the indian ocean region is made up of several different kinds of measurement instruments (sensors). In approximately 90% of all cases the tsunami is caused by an earthquake, otherwise by volcanic eruptions or underwater mass wasting.

The project aims at gaining information about a tsunami and a motion prognosis as early as possible by evaluating several measurements. A tsunami wave spreads with up to 700km/h on the open sea. For the region under study the time from the genesis of a tsunami up to the first runup on the coasts of Indonesia there are as little as 20 minutes. Within this timeframe several sensors which are positioned at different locations in the spreading area of the wave can detect anomalies early on.

Among the sensors mentioned there are seismometers, GPS, tidal gauges and buoys as well as ocean bottom pressure measurement equipment.

In the Indonesian warning center in Jakarta anomalous measurements are mapped to pre-computed Tsunami simulations immediately in order to be able to issue reliable Tsunami warnings or cancellations fast. Germany cooperates with Indonesia in the project, which, due to its proximity to the seismically active Sunda arc, is the area in the Indian ocean which is most endangered by earthquakes. The Joint Declaration signed between BMBF and RISTEK on march 14th, 2005 was the fundament for this cooperation.

Application areas for land use classification

• Deduction of roughness parameters out of the land use for the Deduction of hazard and risk parameters out of SRTM surface models (in combination with modelled scenarios and using modelled roughness parameters
• Downscaling the population density (day/night distribution) for an improvement of risk parameters (how many people are endangered at a certain place/time by the wave)
• Deduction of building masks for use at Optimizing the evacuation planning by Making maps for the planning of safe areas.

Thus remote sensing date are used predominantly in pre-disaster planning as well as after the event for the evacuation and also in the mitigation phase for the use by help organizations.

For further informations see www.gitews.de

Partners in Germany

The GITEWS project for the implementation of core elements of a tsunami early warning system in the indian ocean is conveyed by a consortium of several german research institutions:

• GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), Potsdam, Konsortialführer
• Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI), Bremerhaven
• Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Hannover
• Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn
• GKSS Forschungszentrum, Geesthacht
• Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung (KDM), Berlin
• Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Kiel
• United nations university, Institute for environment and human security (UNU-EHS), Bonn

Partners in Indonesia

• State ministry for research and technology (RISTEK), Jakarta
• National meteorological and geophysical service (BMG), Jakarta
• National coordinating service for surveying and mapping (BAKOSURTANAL), Cibinong
• National technology center for marine probing (BPPT)
• National aerospace center (LAPAN)
• National Institute for the sciences (LIPI), Bandung
• National department for information and communication (DEPKOMINFO), Jakarta
• Secretary for the national coordination of disaster management and internal refugees (BAKORNAS PBP), Jakarta

 Contact: l-geofernerkundung@uni-wuerzburg.de