SAIC to deploy tsunami monitoring system for Thailand

Published 12 May 2009

The Thai government has awarded SAIC a contract to produce and deliver a sea-based system that can warn against the threat of a tsunami; the new system will replace the current NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting Tsunamis (DART) buoy system in the Bay of Bengal, which was provided to Thailand in 2006

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a contract by the Thai government to produce and deliver a sea-based system that can warn against the threat of a tsunami. The Tsunami Buoy system will replace the current NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting Tsunamis (DART) buoy system in the Bay of Bengal, provided to Thailand in 2006.

The system consists of three subsystems: a surface communications buoy, a buoy mooring and a pressure recorder that sits on the sea floor. The pressure recorder includes a highly accurate sea floor pressure sensor that can detect earthquakes and sea-level changes. The data from the seabed is first sent to the buoy on the surface, which then relays it by satellite communications to the Tsunami Warning Center for analysis.

Once processed, the data can provide real-time assessments of whether or not a tsunami has formed as a result of seismic events. “Once deployed, the new system will be a key sensor in providing early assessment of possible destructive tsunamis in one of the most seismically active regions of the world,” said Tom Baybrook, SAIC senior vice-president and business unit general manager.