Using Virtual Quake for GNSS tsunami early warning: coupling earthquakes, tsunamis, and ionosphere physics

John M. Wilson, Kasey W. Schultz, John B. Rundle, & Ramya Bhaskar

Published September 15, 2016, SCEC Contribution #6868, 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting Poster #318 (PDF)

In light of growing demand for fast Global Navigational Satellite System tsunami early warning in the Pacific Rim, computer simulations are being developed to play key roles at all stages. Virtual Quake is an earthquake simulator that can rapidly produce long histories of earthquakes for complex fault systems, including tsunamigenic regions, as well as expected seafloor uplift from such earthquakes. When paired with the Tsunami Squares simulator, large catalogs of tsunami scenarios can be generated. To translate potential tsunamis to potential observables, we plan on coupling our tsunami generation pipeline to a simulation of total electron content (TEC) fluctuations in the ionosphere caused by tsunamis. These TEC signatures can be detected by GPS receivers, allowing fast comparison of ionospheric perturbations to precomputed catalogs of tsunami scenarios for rapid hazard assessment.

Key Words
Virtual Quake, Tsunami, TEC, Ionosphere, Early Warning, GNSS

Citation
Wilson, J. M., Schultz, K. W., Rundle, J. B., & Bhaskar, R. (2016, 09). Using Virtual Quake for GNSS tsunami early warning: coupling earthquakes, tsunamis, and ionosphere physics. Poster Presentation at 2016 SCEC Annual Meeting.

Related Projects & Working Groups
Earthquake Simulators