Tsunami Buoy Contract for SAIC in Japan
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) [NYSE: SAI] announced Wednesday it has been awarded a contract for the production and delivery of six SAIC Tsunami Buoy (STB) systems by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) in Tokyo, Japan.
The STB systems will be deployed at locations in the northwest Pacific Ocean approximately 200 nautical miles east of Sendai, Japan. The coastal region around Sendai experienced the brunt of the damage from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
These STB systems represent part of a larger network of sensors deployed by the JMA that will provide the entire region with critical data to assess the magnitude of tsunamis generated in the oceans east of Japan.
[ Also Read: Tennis Stars Raise Funds for Japan Disaster Relief ]The addition of these systems into the existing sensor network will help strengthen the current warning system and provide a capability to directly assess tsunami waves in the deep sea.
The STB system consists of three subsystems: a surface communications buoy, a buoy mooring, and a bottom pressure recorder. The bottom pressure recorder includes a sea floor pressure sensor which can detect earthquakes and sea level changes.
Acoustic communications transmit the pressure data to the surface buoy, which then relays the data by satellite communications to forecast centers for analysis. Once processed, the data can provide real-time assessments of the characteristics of the tsunami in deep water.
This data is then used with forecast models to predict the amplitude of the wave and inundation when it arrives at a particular coastal location.
