Tsunami Warning and Emergency Response, China, May 2018

Regional Training on “Strengthening Standard Operating Procedures for Tsunami Warning and the use of the ICG/PTWS SCSTAC Tsunami Advisory Products

Beijing, China
8-11 May 2018

The 4-day training will cover the explanation and use of the newly-inaugurated South China Sea Tsunami Advisory Center (SCSTAC) Products, the Japan Meteorological Agency's Northwest Pacific Tsunami Advisory Center (JMA NWPTAC) New Enhanced Products, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) Enhanced Products by National Tsunami Warning Centers and Emergency Response Agencies. Topics will cover the end-to-end warning process, warning center and emergency response challenges, community preparedness, advanced topics in operations, and the methodology, use, interpretation, and limitations of the SCSTAC, NWPTAC, and PTWC Products. Over the last 15+ years, with improvements in data quality, quantity, and real-time availability, TWC response times have dropped significantly from nearly an hour to 5-7 minutes for tsunami events. Our scientific understanding has increased, and better techniques with faster computing platforms are enabling us to quickly and reliably characterize the earthquake and numerically model the tsunami to forecast coastal wave height and impact, thus providing timely information to assist in tsunami warning decision-making.

At the ICG/PTWS-XXV (September 2013), Member States approved the start of the PTWC Enhanced Products on 1 October 2014. These products were the first large-scale modifications in decades, whereupon the PTWC ceased issuing Warnings and Watches, and now issues only informational tsunami wave forecasts. Public text products continue, but the additional graphical and statistical enhanced products are only sent to authorized Tsunami Warning Focal Points (TWFP). At the ICG/PTWS-XXVI (April 2015), Member States agreed that following the PTWC implementation, the NWPTAC should proceed with the development of its enhanced products. The NWPTAC enhanced products consist of an initial text message using information from a pre-established tsunami database, and are followed by text and graphical messages that include results from real-time simulations, and sent solely to NWPTAC TWFP. With IOC Circular Letter 2702 (13 December 2017), the JMA NWPTAC commenced issuance of its NWPTAC Enhanced Products in experimental mode on 20 December 2017, in parallel with its existing products.

At the ICG/PTWS-XXII (March 2017), Member States agreed to form a Task Team on the Establishment of a South China Sea Tsunami Advisory Center and accepted the offer of the Government of China to host the SCSTAC at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC). Through IOC Circular Letter 2706 (5 January 2018), the China’s SCSTAC commenced trial issuance of its SCSTAC Products on 26 January 2018.

 Informational Documents