Radar could detect tsunamis more accurately

Unpublished
A tsunami has been observed with radar for the first time, promising a cheap and more accurate early warning method, according to a study published in Remote Sensing.

Researchers have found that the devastating tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March could had been spotted up to 45 minutes before it reached tide gauges, using high-frequency radars installed along the shorelines in California and Japan.

The warning time depended on how shallow the water was — the shallower the water, further away the method can detect a tsunami.

Such a system would also measure waves that sometimes follow within a day of the initial tsunami, which the current systems do not detect well.

But the shortage of radar operators and experts in South-East Asian countries means it may take some time before such a method could be deployed there.

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