Bottom pressure recorders capture tsunami signals as they approach land.

Bottom pressure recorders developed at the Natural Resources Canada Pacific Geoscience Centre are part of a tsunami array deployed on the NEPTUNE observatory that stretches from the deep ocean to the inner continental shelf. This real-time tsunami monitoring system captured signals from the September 2009 Samoan (Mw = 8.1), February 2010 Chilean (Mw = 8.8), and April 2011 Tōhoku (Mw = 9.0) earthquakes and tsunamis.

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Energy from the Chilean earthquake radiated into the Pacific Ocean during the first 30 hours after the earthquake of 27 Feb 2010. Map created by Issac Fine, DFO-IOS.

Calculations allowed precise determination of tsunami wave speed, direction, and amplitude. The ability to assimilate open-ocean data from the cabled observatory into an operational tsunami fore- cast model makes it possible to provide updated wave time and height information that could help mitigate the impact of future tsunamis approaching the west coast of British Columbia. 

Pressure data recorded at four study sites on the NEPTUNE observatory document the arrival of the Tōhoku tsunami on 11 March, 2011.

See also the Tsunamis Working Group page.

To learn more, contact staff scientist Martin Heesemann.