American company to set up early tsunami warning system in Oman

Muscat: Sutron Corporation, a USA-based global leader in hydrological, meteorological and oceanic monitoring systems, has signed a contract with the Ministry of Transport and Communications to install seven Coastal Sea Level Gauges at major ports around the country.

The project is part of the National Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (NMHEWS), established by Unesco after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami under the aegis of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), in co-operation with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) in Tokyo.

The seven Sea Level Gauges, according to a report by government-owned Oman News Agency (ONA), will be located along Oman's coastline on the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

These multi-purpose stations will comply with requirements of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS), delivering real-time data via METEOSAT (transmitting every 15 minutes) and backed up with Iridium Satellite telemetry. Data transmissions will also be provided via dial-up, BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) and GPRS.

Data will be exchanged through the Global Telecommunications System (GTS), the crucial data collection pathway for international earth data observation networks. A division of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), GTS supports fast, reliable data exchange for worldwide warning centres and watch providers that is essential for responding to multi-hazard events.

The Central Data Collection Station for the Sea Level Gauges in Oman will be located at Directorate-General of Meteorology and Air Navigation of Oman headquarters at Muscat Airport.