Next generation Easy-to-Deploy (ETD) tsunami assessment buoy

This paper addresses the operational capability of the first commercially available next-generation Easy-to-Deploy (ETD) Deep-ocean Assessment and Recording of Tsunamis (DART^®) tsunami assessment system. Building upon their success with their DART^® buoy systems, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) spent over five years of research and development designing the next-generation of tsunami assessment buoys. The ETD DART^® systems have advantages over traditional buoy systems in the right oceanographic conditions. The ETD DART^® system consists of a modular, self-deploying and fully integrated surface buoy subsystem, bottom pressure recorder (BPR) subsystem, mooring subsystem, and an anchor subsystem. Through licensing agreements, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) began producing the first commercial ETD DART^® systems in early 2010. Since that time, SAIC ETD DARTs^® systems have been successfully deployed in the Coral Sea on August 27, 2010, the Tasman Sea on April 8, 2011, and in the Indian Ocean on February 12, 2012. Two additional systems are expected to be deployed in 2012, one near the Kuril Islands and one in the eastern Bay of Bengal. The ETD DARTs^® performance has been exceptional at all three locations despite challenging environmental conditions. Operating continuously for over 18 months, the Coral Sea system has weathered the impact of a category five cyclone and subsequently detected several tsunami events including the globally observed Honshu tsunami. The Tasman Sea ETD DART® system has also performed well in some of the most challenging high wind and heavy sea conditions known to occur in the world's oceans. By design, the ETD DART^® offers significant cost advantages over standard tsunami assessment systems. The ETD DART^® is designed to be deployed by small and fast response vessels, requires fewer trained personnel, and takes only minutes of deployment time. Moreover, the integrated nature of the ETD DART^® buoy, mooring, anchor and bottom pressure recorder subsystems allow for safe deployment in higher sea states from smaller and faster ships with limited deck equipment. The ship is only required to raise one edge of the ETD DART^® shipping frame approximately one meter off the deck; gravity then self-deploys the system. This capability may be important to countries with limited traditional oceanographic ship availability or those who wish to significantly reduce large ship charter costs. The ETD DART^® has been certified fully operational and is now an important new technology available to support the global tsunami detection network and other applications.