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The first of the two DART buoys developed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was installed in the Indian Ocean at latitude 9° north and longitude 89° east in December 2006. The second buoy will be positioned right on the equator, at latitude 0° north and longitude 92° east. Installation of the latter will be undertaken from January to May 2007.
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Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an operating unit of the US Department of Commerce, entered into a technical cooperation agreement.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by NDWC and NOAA, Washington will assist Thailand and other countries bordering the Indian Ocean, with the installation of a Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) system, a tsunami detection and early warning system, by providing the region with two deep ocean buoys developed by NOAA.
The first of the two DART buoys was installed in the Indian Ocean at latitude 9° north and longitude 89° east in December 2006. The second buoy will be positioned right on the equator, at latitude 0° north and longitude 92° east. Installation of the latter will be undertaken from January to May 2007.
A DART system consists of a seafloor bottom pressure recorder (BPR) system capable of detecting tsunamis as small as 1 cm and a moored surface buoy for real-time communications. An acoustic link transmits data from the BPR on the seafloor to the surface buoy. The data are then relayed via a satellite link to ground stations, which demodulate the signals for immediate dissemination to NOAA's Tsunami Warning Centers and NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). |
NOAA is providing the two DART deep ocean buoys at no cost, while Thailand’s NDWC will facilitate installation of the DART buoys by NOAA, assume responsibility for long-term maintenance of the buoys and support data collection efforts. Total maintenance costs are estimated to be 70 million baht for a two-year period. The Thai government had previously allocated a total budget of 180 million for the installation of an early warning and disaster mitigation system for the detection of tsunami incidents that might occur in the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea, offshore of Thailand’s west coast.
DIAGRAM OF DART BUOY
National Data Buoy Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
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TSUNAMI EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
Warning Towers along Thailand’s Andaman Coast
As of June 26, 2006, a total of 79 warning towers have been installed in Thai provinces bordering the Andaman Sea — Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, Ranong and Satun. |
| Province |
Total No. of Warning Towers |
Warning Towers inspected by the National Disaster Warning Administration Committee |
Warning Towers pending inspection |
TOTAL |
| Phang-nga |
16 |
11 |
5 |
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| Phuket |
4 |
3 |
1 |
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| Trang |
11 |
11 |
- |
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| Satun |
14 |
14 |
- |
|
| Ranong |
5 |
2 |
3 |
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| Krabi |
12 |
12 |
- |
|
| Total: |
62 |
53 |
9 |
62 |
| Additional Warning Towers |
| Phang-nga |
2* |
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| Phuket |
15 |
|
|
|
| Total: |
17 |
|
|
17 |
| GRAND TOTAL: |
79 |
| The additional tsunami warning towers in Phang-nga were donated by Raydant International Co., Ltd.* Three of the towers in Phuket were donated by T.M.S. International (a Swedish-German company to the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology. The remaining 12 were funded by the budget allocation for Phuket province with contracts awarded to Raydant International Co., Ltd. (9 towers) and Thaicom Foundation (3 towers). |
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Contact information:
National Disaster Warning Centre (NDWC)
Tel: +66 (0) 2589 2497
Fax: +66 (0) 2589 6008
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