NOAA AND AUSTRALIA SECURE TSUNAMI PARTNERSHIP

Feb. 23, 2007 � NOAA and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology today officially signed an agreement to promote cooperative technical partnerships in tsunami early warning systems. As part of this effort, NOAA and the Bureau expect to launch a new Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART™) buoy station in April to further strengthen the Indian Ocean region’s capacity for tsunami warning. (Click NOAA image for larger view of DART buoy at the NOAA National Data Buoy Center at the Stennis Space Center, Miss. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)

"NOAA is pleased to have the Bureau as a partner in the Indian and South West Pacific basins to assist in providing part of a global tsunami warning capability,” said USAF retired Brigadier General John “Jack” Kelly, NOAA deputy undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. “We expect that Australia and the United States will continue to work together to maintain a robust operational tsunami warning system throughout this region.”

“We are creating a structure and network of scientists in both countries to share data and provide technical capabilities,” said Geoff Love, Ph.D, director of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. “The agreement fosters a mutual exchange of scientific and technical expertise to the benefit of both countries.”

The technical collaboration and partnership advances the interests of Australia and the United States by:

• Strengthening national and regional capacity for tsunami detection, forecast, warning, communication, preparedness and other aspects of an end-to-end tsunami warning system;
• Increasing the number of in situ and deep ocean sea level observations available in the Pacific and Indian Oceans;
• Reducing development, deployment, operations and maintenance costs for tsunami detection systems that protect Australia, the U.S. and the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions; and
• Helping to build capacity among Australian and U.S. regional partners.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART™)

NOAA Tsunami Portal

Media Contact:
Greg Romano, NOAA National Weather Service, (301) 713-0622