Structure and performance of a real-time algorithm to detect tsunami or tsunami-like alert conditions based on sea-level records analysis

Abstract. The goal of this paper is to present an original real-time algorithm devised for detection of tsunami or tsunami-like waves we call TEDA (Tsunami Early Detection Algorithm), and to introduce a methodology to evaluate its performance. TEDA works on the sea level records of a single station and implements two distinct modules running concurrently: one to assess the presence of tsunami waves ("tsunami detection") and the other to identify high-amplitude long waves ("secure detection"). Both detection methods are based on continuously updated time functions depending on a number of parameters that can be varied according to the application. In order to select the most adequate parameter setting for a given station, a methodology to evaluate TEDA performance has been devised, that is based on a number of indicators and that is simple to use. In this paper an example of TEDA application is given by using data from a tide gauge located at the Adak Island in Alaska, USA, that resulted in being quite suitable since it recorded several tsunamis in the last years using the sampling rate of 1 min

The UBO-TSUFD tsunami inundation model: validation and application to a tsunami case study focused on the city of Catania, Italy

Abstract. Nowadays numerical models are a powerful tool in tsunami research since they can be used (i) to reconstruct modern and historical events, (ii) to cast new light on tsunami sources by inverting tsunami data and observations, (iii) to build scenarios in the frame of tsunami mitigation plans, and (iv) to produce forecasts of tsunami impact and inundation in systems of early warning. In parallel with the general recognition of the importance of numerical tsunami simulations, the demand has grown for reliable tsunami codes, validated through tests agreed upon by the tsunami community. This paper presents the tsunami code UBO-TSUFD that has been developed at the University of Bologna, Italy, and that solves the non-linear shallow water (NSW) equations in a Cartesian frame, with inclusion of bottom friction and exclusion of the Coriolis force, by means of a leapfrog (LF) finite-difference scheme on a staggered grid and that accounts for moving boundaries to compute sea inundation and withdrawal at the coast. Results of UBO-TSUFD applied to four classical benchmark problems are shown: two benchmarks are based on analytical solutions, one on a plane wave propagating on a flat channel with a constant slope beach; and one on a laboratory experiment. The code is proven to perform very satisfactorily since it reproduces quite well the benchmark theoretical and experimental data. Further, the code is applied to a realistic tsunami case: a scenario of a tsunami threatening the coasts of eastern Sicily, Italy, is defined and discussed based on the historical tsunami of 11 January 1693, i.e. one of the most severe events in the Italian history

Corrigendum to "The UBO-TSUFD tsunami inundation model: validation and application to a tsunami case study focused on the city of Catania, Italy" published in Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 13, 1795–1816, 2013

No abstract available

Detecting the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami arrival on sea-level records in the Pacific Ocean: application and performance of the Tsunami Early Detection Algorithm (TEDA)

Abstract. Real-time detection of a tsunami on instrumental sea-level records is quite an important task for a Tsunami Warning System (TWS), and in case of alert conditions for an ongoing tsunami it is often performed by visual inspection in operational warning centres. In this paper we stress the importance of automatic detection algorithms and apply the TEDA (Tsunami Early Detection Algorithm) to identify tsunami arrivals of the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in a real-time virtual exercise. TEDA is designed to work at station level, that is on sea-level data of a single station, and was calibrated on data from the Adak island, Alaska, USA, tide-gauge station. Using the parameters' configuration devised for the Adak station, the TEDA has been applied to 123 coastal sea-level records from the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, which enabled us to evaluate the efficiency and sensitivity of the algorithm on a wide range of background conditions and of signal-to-noise ratios. The result is that TEDA is able to detect quickly the majority of the tsunami signals and therefore proves to have the potential for being a valid tool in the operational TWS practice.</p

Corrigendum to "The UBO-TSUFD tsunami inundation model: validation and application to a tsunami case study focused on the city of Catania, Italy" published in Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 13, 1795–1816, 2013

No abstract available

Statistical properties of coastal long waves analysed through sea-level time-gradient functions: Exemplary analysis of the Siracusa, Italy, tide-gauge data

Abstract. This study presents a new method to analyse the properties of the sea-level signal recorded by coastal tide gauges in the long wave range that is in a window between wind/storm waves and tides and is typical of several phenomena like local seiches, coastal shelf resonances and tsunamis. The method consists of computing four specific functions based on the time gradient (slope) of the recorded sea level oscillations, namely the instantaneous slope (IS) as well as three more functions based on IS, namely the reconstructed sea level (RSL), the background slope (BS) and the control function (CF). These functions are examined through a traditional spectral fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis and also through a statistical analysis, showing that they can be characterised by probability distribution functions PDFs such as the Student's t distribution (IS and RSL) and the beta distribution (CF). As an example, the method has been applied to data from the tide-gauge station of Siracusa, Italy

The UBO-TSUFD tsunami inundation model: validation and application to a tsunami case study focused on the city of Catania, Italy

Nowadays numerical models are a powerful tool in tsunami research since they can be used (i) to reconstruct modern and historical events, (ii) to cast new light on tsunami sources by inverting tsunami data and observations, (iii) to build scenarios in the frame of tsunami mitigation plans, and (iv) to produce forecasts of tsunami impact and inundation in systems of early warning. In parallel with the general recognition of the importance of numerical tsunami simulations, the demand has grown for reliable tsunami codes, validated through tests agreed upon by the tsunami community. This paper presents the tsunami code UBO-TSUFD that has been developed at the University of Bologna, Italy, and that solves the non-linear shallow water (NSW) equations in a Cartesian frame, with inclusion of bottom friction and exclusion of the Coriolis force, by means of a leapfrog (LF) finite-difference scheme on a staggered grid and that accounts for moving boundaries to compute sea inundation and withdrawal at the coast. Results of UBO-TSUFD applied to four classical benchmark problems are shown: two benchmarks are based on analytical solutions, one on a plane wave propagating on a flat channel with a constant slope beach; and one on a laboratory experiment. The code is proven to perform very satisfactorily since it reproduces quite well the benchmark theoretical and experimental data. Further, the code is applied to a realistic tsunami case: a scenario of a tsunami threatening the coasts of eastern Sicily, Italy, is defined and discussed based on the historical tsunami of 11 January 1693, i.e. one of the most severe events in the Italian history

A revision of the 1783?1784 Calabrian (southern Italy) tsunamis

International audienceSouthern Italy is one of the most tsunamigenic areas in the Mediterranean basin, having experienced during centuries a large number of tsunamis, some of which very destructive. In particular, the most exposed zone here is the Messina Straits separating the coasts of Calabria and Sicily that was the theatre of the strongest Italian events. In 1783?1785 Calabria was shaken by the most violent and persistent seismic crisis occurred in the last 2000 years. Five very strong earthquakes, followed by tsunamis, occurred in a short interval of time (February?March 1783), causing destruction and a lot of victims in a vast region embracing the whole southern Calabria and the Messina area, Sicily. In this study we re-examined these events by taking into account all available historical sources. In particular, we focussed on the 5 and 6 February 1783 tsunamis, that were the most destructive. As regards the 5 February event, we found that it was underestimated and erroneously considered a minor event. On the contrary, the analysis of the sources revealed that in some localities the tsunami effects were quite strong. The 6 February tsunami, the strongest one of the sequence, was due to a huge earthquake-induced rockfall and killed more than 1500 people in the Calabrian village of Scilla. For this event the inundated area and the runup values distribution were estimated. Further, the analysis of the historical sources allowed us to find three new tsunamis that passed previously unnoticed and that occurred during this seismic period. The first one occurred a few hours before the large earthquake of 5 February 1783. The second was generated by a rockfall on 24 March 1783. Finally, the third occurred on 9 January 1784, probably due to a submarine earthquake

A new version of the European tsunami catalogue: updating and revision

A new version of the European catalogue of tsunamis is presented here. It differs from the latest release of the catalogue that was produced in 1998 and is known as GITEC tsunami catalogue in some important aspects. In the first place, it is a database built on the Visual FoxPro 6.0 DBMS that can be used and maintained under the PC operating systems currently available. Conversely, the GITEC catalogue was compatible only with Windows 95 and older PC platforms. In the second place, it is enriched by new facilities and a new type of data, such as a database of pictures that can be accessed easily from the main screen of the catalogue. Thirdly, it has been updated by including the newly published references. Minute and painstaking search for new data has been undertaken to re-evaluate cases that were not included in the GITEC catalogue, though they were mentioned in previous catalogues; the exclusion was motivated by a lack of data. This last work has focused so far on Italian cases of the last two centuries. The result is that at least two events have been found which deserve inclusion in the new catalogue: one occurred in 1809 in the Gulf of La Spezia, and the other occurred in 1940 in the Gulf of Palermo. Two further events are presently under investigation

Simulation of tsunamis induced by volcanic activity in the Gulf of Naples (Italy)

International audienceThe paper explores the potential of tsunami generation by pyroclastic flows travelling down the flank of the volcano Vesuvius that is found south of Naples in Italy. The eruption history of Vesuvius shows that it is characterised by large explosive eruptions of plinian or subplinian type during which large volume of pyroclastic flows can be produced. The most remarkable examples of such eruptions occurred in 79 AD and in 1631 and were catastrophic. Presently Vesuvius is in a repose time that, according to volcanologists, could be interrupted by a large eruption, and consequently proper plans of preparedness and emergency management have been devised by civil authorities based on a scenario envisaging a large eruption. Recently, numerical models of magma ascent and of eruptive column formation and collapse have been published for the Vesuvius volcano, and propagation of pyroclastic flows down the slope of the volcanic edifice up to the close shoreline have been computed. These flows can reach the sea in the Gulf of Naples: the denser slow part will enter the waters, while the lighter and faster part of the flow can travel on the water surface exerting a pressure on it. This paper studies the tsunami produced by the pressure pulse associated with the transit of the low-density phase of the pyroclastic flow on the sea surface by means of numerical simulations. The study is divided into two parts. First the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Gulf of Naples as regards the propagation of long waves are analysed by studying the waves radiating from a source that is a static initial depression of the sea level localised within the gulf. Then the tsunami produced by a pressure pulse moving from the Vesuvius toward the open sea is simulated: the forcing pulse features are derived from the recent studies on Vesuvian pyroclastic flows in the literature. The tsunami resulting from the computations is a perturbation involving the whole Gulf of Naples, but it is negligible outside, and persists within the gulf long after the transit of the excitation pulse. The size of the tsunami is modest. The largest calculated oscillations are found along the innermost coasts of the gulf at Naples and at Castellammare. The main conclusion of the study is that the light component of the pyroclastic flows produced by future large eruptions of Vesuvius are not expected to set up catastrophic tsunamis