A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula recently triggered a tsunami that rippled across the Pacific Ocean. It gave NASA scientists a real-world test of their new tsunami detection system. Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California say their experimental system, known as GUARDIAN (GNSS Upper Atmospheric Real-time Disaster Information and Alert Network), detected the tsunami by reading subtle disturbances in the upper atmosphere.
“[GUARDIAN] functioned to its full extent,” said Camille Martire, one of the system’s developers at JPL. The system sent alerts to subscribed subject matter experts within 20 minutes of the earthquake, according to NASA/JPL. It also confirmed signs of the tsunami roughly 30 to 40 minutes before the waves reached Hawaii and other Pacific sites on July 29 local time. “Those extra minutes of knowing something is coming could make a real difference when it comes to warning communities in the path,” said JPL scientist Siddharth Krishnamoorthy.
How GUARDIAN Works
During a tsunami, large sections of the ocean rise and fall together, pushing air upward and generating low-frequency sound and gravity waves that travel outward into space. Those waves slightly disturb the ionosphere, the charged layer of Earth’s upper atmosphere, and affect the radio signals sent down from satellites.
GUARDIAN uses data from more than 350 continuously operating ground stations that receive signals from GPS and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites. While normal GNSS processing filters out those distortions, GUARDIAN looks for them as evidence of tsunami activity.
By analyzing these signals, the system can detect tsunamis as far as 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from a station. In ideal situations, JPL says coastal communities could get as much as one hour and 20 minutes of advance warning. The Kamchatka quake provided the system’s first real-world challenge just one day after JPL engineers deployed two major upgrades: an artificial intelligence (AI) model trained to spot tsunami-related signals and a prototype alert messaging system.
When the tsunami pressure waves reached the upper atmosphere, GUARDIAN flagged the disturbance and notified human experts for review. Within about 10 minutes of receiving the raw data, the system produced a snapshot showing the atmospheric signal from the waves.
How The System Could Protect Travelers In Coastal Regions
Current tsunami warning systems rely on seismic data to estimate whether an undersea quake could produce a tsunami, and on deep-ocean pressure sensors to confirm if one is underway. Those sensors are considered the “gold standard,” but they are expensive and sparse.
“NASA’s GUARDIAN can help fill the gaps,” said Christopher Moore, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center for Tsunami Research. “It provides one more piece of information, one more valuable data point, that can help us determine, yes, we need to make the call to evacuate.” Moore added that GUARDIAN offers “a unique perspective” by sensing sea-surface motion from high above the planet in near real time.
Adrienne Moseley, co-director of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, emphasized the importance of sharing GUARDIAN’s data. “Tsunamis don’t respect national boundaries. We need to be able to share data around the whole region to be able to make assessments about the threat for all exposed coastlines,” she said. “GUARDIAN has real potential to help by providing open access to this data.”
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