A Multiple-Parameter Methodology for Placement of Tsunami Sensor Networks

Abstract

A methodology to optimize the design of an offshore tsunami network array is presented, allowing determination of the placement of sensors to be used in a tsunami early warning system framework. The method improves on previous sensor location methods by integrating three commonly used tsunami forecast performance indicators as a measure of the predictive accuracy through a single cost function. The joint use of different tsunami parameters allows for a network that is less subject to bias found when using a single parameter. The resulting network performance was tested using a set of synthetic target scenarios and also verified against a model of the 2014 Pisagua event, suggesting that having such a network in place could have provided meaningful information for the hazard assessment. The small number of sensors required (three spanning nearly 700 km of the Northern Chile coast) may be useful in implementing such networks in places where funding of denser arrays is difficult.