INDONESIAN REAL TIME SEA LEVEL MONITORING NETWORK SUPPORTING TSUNAMI WARNING

Lessons learned from the 26th December 2004 Sumatra Tsunami have prompted efforts by Indonesia, with support from donor countries, to establish an Indonesia Real Time Sea Level Monitoring Network to support tsunami early warning systems (TEWS) both in the Indian Ocean and for Indonesian Sea waters. The German, USA, and Indonesian Governments, and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), have committed to support the establishment of 10, 10, 60, and 3 real time sea level stations, respectively. The stations should be in place by the end of 2008 and these will complete the Indonesia Sea Level Monitoring Network of 120 stations. The extensive network will use different communication channels such as Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) supported by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN), and the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) data, which will all run independently, if possible. This will provide a more robust system to ensure that data are received in the event of emergencies. The use of satellite based data communication, with solar cells for independent power supply, should be the most reliable option for the vas