This award provides co-funding (with NOAA) of a two-day workshop, on July 25 and 26, 2006, to develop a strategic plan for tsunami research in the United States. Topics of review and discussion at the workshop will include:
1. A review of past tsunami research plans (1981 and 2003) 2. A review of current tsunami research 3. A review of Federal agency plans for future tsunami research 4. A review of research needs resulting from the 2004 Asian tsunami 5. An assimilation of the results of these reviews into a strategic framework 6. A schedule to complete the strategic plan by November 1, 2006 7. The workshop is to be held in conjunction with the NSF/NEES Tsunami Facility Usage Workshop and Tsunami Modeling of Inundation over a Complex 3D Bathymetry at Oregon State University scheduled for July 27 and 28, 2006.
To ensure a core group of attendees with diverse technical expertise and interests, a selected panel of researchers will be invited to attend and give presentations. They will submit a summary of their recommendations based on discussions at the workshop. Drs. Eddie Bernard, Lori Dengler and Solomon Yim will be in charge of the development of a summary report based on the input provided by the presenters. The vetted report will be submitted to NOAA and NSF for approval. Once approved, the report will be disseminated to the tsunami research community by NOAA and NSF.
The workshop addresses both the long-term goal of "the development a complete simulation of tsunami generation, propagation, and coastal effects to provide a real-time description of tsunamis at the coastline for use with warning, evacuation, engineering, and mitigation strategies" and the short-term goal of "working with the National Hazard Mitigation Program to define research needs" described in the National Research Council's 2003 NEES research agenda publication on "Preventing Earthquake Disasters, The Grand Challenge in Earthquake Engineering". It fulfills an urgent need in national tsunami research planning and highlights the collaborative support of NOAA, the agency responsible for tsunami warnings and NSF, the agency responsible for research in our nation, in achieving these goals.
The strategic plan resulting from the workshop will enable the US Congress, NOAA, NSF, and other Federal agencies to better determine the resources needed to achieve the stated long-term and short-term goals as well as how the resources should be allocated among complementary research disciplines. Implementation of the strategic plan will ensure our Federal, State and Local government agencies and the coastal communities to be well prepared for tsunamis and prevent disasters similar to the Asia tsunami and Katrina Hurricane to occur in the US. The strategic plan will be made available to other countries prone to tsunami attack so the benefits will be manifested worldwide.
