THE
TSUNAMI ASSESSMENT MODELLING SYSTEM BY THE JOINT RESEARCH
CENTRE
Alessandro Annunziato
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy
ABSTRACT
The Tsunami Assessment
Modeling System was developed by the European Commission, Joint
Research Centre, in order to serve Tsunami early warning systems
such as the Global Disaster Alerts and Coordination System (GDACS)
in the evaluation of possible consequences by a Tsunami of seismic
nature. The Tsunami Assessment Modeling System is currently operational
and is calculating in real time all the events occurring in the
world, calculating the expected Tsunami wave height and identifying
the locations where the wave height should be too high. The first
part of the paper describes the structure of the system, the
underlying analytical models and the informatics arrangement;
the second part shows the activation of the system and the results
of the calculated analyses. The final part shows future development
of this modeling tool.
Science of Tsunami
Hazards, Vol. 26, No. 2, page 70 (2007)
IMPACT
OF TSUNAMI 2004 IN COASTAL VILLAGES OF NAGAPATTINAM DISTRICT,
INDIA
R. Kumaraperumal*,
S. Natarajan, R. Sivasamy, S. Chellamuthu , S.S. Ganesh and G.Anandakumar
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Remote Sensing and GIS Centre
Coimbatore, India
ABSTRACT
A quake-triggered
tsunami lashed the Nagapattinam coast of southern India on December
26, 2004 at around 9.00 am (IST). The tsunami caused heavy damage
to houses, tourist resorts, fishing boats, prawn culture ponds,
soil and crops, and consequently affected the livelihood of large
numbers of the coastal communities. The study was carried out
in the Tsunami affected villages in the coastal Nagapattinam
with the help of remote sensing and geographical information
science tools. Through the use of the IRS 1D PAN and LISS 3
merged data and quick bird images, it was found that 1,320 ha
of agricultural and non-agricultural lands were affected by the
tsunami. The lands were affected by soil erosion, salt deposition,
water logging and other deposited sediments and debris. The
maximum run-up height of 6.1 m and the maximum seawater inundation
distance of 2.2 km were observed at Vadakkupoyyur village in
coastal Nagapattinam.
Pre and Post Tsunami survey on soil quality showed an increase
in pH and EC values, irrespective of distance from the sea. The
water reaction was found to be in alkaline range (> 8.00)
in most of the wells. Salinity levels are greater than 4 dS
m-1 in all the wells except the ring well. The effect of summer
rainfall on soil and water quality showed the dilution of soluble
salts. Pumping of water has reduced the salinity levels in the
well water samples and as well as in the open ponds. Following
the 2004 event, it has become apparent to know the relative tsunami
hazard for this coastal Nagapattinam. So, the Tsunami hazard
maps are generated using a geographical information systems (GIS)
approach and the results showed 20.6 per cent, 63.7 per cent
and 15.2 per cent of the study area fall under high hazard, medium
hazard and low hazard category respectively.
Science of Tsunami
Hazards, Vol. 26, No. 2, page 93 (2007)
STUDIES
BETWEEN THE TSUNAMIGENIC SEDIMENTS OF MANDAPAM AND TUTICORIN,
SOUTH EAST COAST OF INDIA
M. Suresh Gandhi,
A. Solai and S. P. Mohan
Department of Geology, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai,
India
ABSTRACT
The Gulf of Mannar
is a transitional zone between the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean
proper and is connected with the Bay of Bengal through a shallow
sill, the Palk Strait. The study area extends from Mandapam to
Tuticorin on the southern coast of Tamil Nadu (India) over a
distance of 120 km. It is bound in the northeast by Rameshwaram
Island, in the east by the Bay of Bengal, in the west by the
Eastern and Western Ghats, and in the south by Tuticorin. A total
of 36 sediment samples were collected from the beach (6) and
the offshore (30) area in the study region. The offshore samples
were collected at six transects keeping the stations at Mandapam
(5 nos), Valinokkam (5 nos), Vaippar (5 nos), Vembar (5 nos),
Kallar, (5 nos) and Tuticorin (5 nos). Totally, 77 benthic
foraminiferal species (Post-tsunami) and varieties belonging
to 39 genera, 13 families, 10 superfamilies and 4 suborders have
been reported and illustrated. The following species are widely
distributed in the pre and post-tsunami samples namely Spiroloculina
communis, Quinqueloculina elongatum, Q.lamarckiana, Q. seminulum,
Triloculina trigonula, Cibicides lobatululs, Ammonia beccarii,
A. dentata, A.tepida, Elphidium crispum and Assilina ammonoides.
Grain size studies shows the frequency curves vary from unimodal
to bimodal in places of river discharge from the Vembar, Kallar,
Vaippar and Tamiraparani, as a result of which an additional
sub-population is deposited. At Mandapam and Tuticorin, the total
species are increasing in the deeper depths whereas in Kallar
there will be reverse trend which decreases with depth. Similarly,
the living species also have the same trend at Vallinokkam. The
scatter plot of salinity versus living species shows a positive
correlation. The scatter plot of organic matter versus living
species shows strong negative correlation and positive correlation
with dead species showing a negative relation with the biomass.
Further, the trend of organic matter vs. carbonate indicates
that the littoral drift of sediments brought foraminifera from
the inner shelf regions and has played a great role in the contribution
of dead species, as well as microfossils. The present study indicated
that the sediments were brought from the inner shelf.
Science of Tsunami
Hazards, Vol. 26, No. 2, page 115 (2007)