News
16 May 2012
The JRC and the Italian Civil Protection collaborate on Tsunami early warning
The JRC and the Italian Department for Civil Protection (DPC) decided to strengthen their collaboration and jointly develop a Tsunami alert system in the Mediterranean Sea.
The four year collaboration agreement foresees data and knowledge exchange between the parties with the ultimate goal to increase the security of populations at risk of a Tsunami.
In this context, the JRC's Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) will provide its Tsunami alert and monitoring systems to support decision making in the case of a Tsunami.
JRC prototype systems include:
- a global database of pre-event calculated Tsunami scenarios, which - for the Mediterranean area - includes about 8000 calculations based on historical tsunami events;
- a Tsunami analysis software which calculates the wave height and propagation time;
- a Tsunami Alerting Device whose siren can directly alert population at risk. This device will be tested by the DPC in a coastal area at potential risk of a tsunami.
The DPC will contribute to the definition of further potential Tsunami scenarios and will facilitate the use of real time seismic and sea level data.
In the context of the UNESCO initiative to establish Regional Centres for Tsunami Early Warning in the Mediterranean area, the JRC has started collaborations also with other countries in the Mediterranean area, in particular with Portugal, Turkey and Greece, whereas collaborations with Romania, Spain and Morocco are being negotiated. The use of common software and data facilitates real time data exchange.
JRC's activities on Tsunami modelling