About the project

• Project Title: Towards a meteotsunami warning system along the U.S. coastline (TMEWS)
• Grant Provider:
  U.S. Department of Commerce
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  National Weather Service (NWS)
  Financial Assistance Award NA11NWS4670005
• Project Budget: $349,987.00
• Project Realization Period: 1 October 2011 – 30 June 2013
• State-of-the Art and Objectives:
  Overall objective of the project proposal “Towards a meteotsunami warning system along the U.S. coastline (TMEWS)” is to build the procedures and protocols for rising of a meteotsunami warning alerts adoptable the U.S. observing capacities, and based on the meteorological and oceanographic characteristics of historical meteotsunamis observed along the U.S. coastline.
• Project Abstract:
  Meteotsunamis, or meteorological tsunamis, are atmospherically induced ocean waves in the tsunami frequency band that are found to affect coasts in a destructive way in a number of places in the World Ocean. The waves are not related to any seismic activity, volcanic explosions, submarine landslides or meteorite impacts but to atmospheric forcing, including atmospheric gravity waves, pressure jumps, frontal passages, squalls, and tropical cyclones. Meteotsunami waves has been observed and intermittently studied along the U.S. coastline, but no comprehensive and interdisciplinary studies have been performed, especially on the source of meteotsunami waves. Therefore, the first objective of the TMEWS project is to improve our understanding of the sources and atmospheric properties of U.S. meteotsunamis, their interaction with coastal waters, and their amplification when approaching and impacting the shoreline. Historical U.S. meteotsunamis, such as that at Daytona Beach FL in 1992 and Booth Bay MA in 2008, will be investigated by analyzing all available atmospheric and oceanic data, and by reproducing the events with atmospheric and oceanic numerical models. The acquired knowledge will be used for the assessment of the processes, and for determining the parameters and variables that can be used in a timely detection of meteotsunamis. An assessment of the NWS/NOAA observing facilities will be performed, and the applicability and necessary modifications will be proposed in order to fulfill the requirements for the timely detection of meteotsunamis. The final objective of the TMEWS project is to develop a decision-making meteotsunami matrix that will include associated operational protocols and procedures, and a flowchart of the meteotsunami warning system from its detection on the observational network to the issuing of meteotsunami alerts. As part of the overall objective of the TMEWS project to build an efficient meteotsunami warning system, the project will incorporate different groups of users (scientists, coastal engineers, coastal management authorities, etc.) and raise public awareness in high-risk meteotsunami areas, resulting in an increased safety level of coastal population and in decreased potential damage to property, goods and service along the U.S. coastline.
• Project Narrative file (pdf document)