D. B. Percival, D. W. Denbo, M. C. Eble, E. Gica, H. O. Mofjeld, M. C. Spillane, L. Tang and V. V. Titov (2010), `Extraction of tsunami source parameters via inversion of DART buoy data,' submitted 8/31/10.
The ability to accurately forecast potential hazards posed to coastal communities by tsunamis generated seismically in both the near and far field requires knowledge of so-called source parameters, from which the strength of a tsunami can be deduced. Seismic information alone can be used to set the source parameters, but the values so derived reflect the dynamics of movement at or below the seabed and hence might not accurately describe how this motion is manifested in the overlaying water column. We describe here a method for refining source parameter estimates based on seismic information by making use of data from Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys. The method involves using this data to adjust precomputed models via an inversion algorithm so that residuals between the adjusted models and the DART data are as small as possible in a least squares sense. The inversion algorithm is statistically based and hence has the ability to assess uncertainty in the estimated source parameters. We describe this inversion algorithm in detail and apply it to the November 2006 Kurl Islands event as a case study.
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