Harris Corporation is providing communications technology, engineering services and operations support for a new offshore sensor system to help detect and provide early warnings of tsunamis in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Harris is supporting CSnet International, Inc., whose CSnet (CYPRUS) Ltd. affiliate is teamed with the Oceanography Centre of Cyprus to develop and deploy a prototype Tsunami Warning and Early Response system for Cyprus (TWERC).

This system will consist of an array of seismometers and very sensitive pressure sensors installed on several hundred kilometers of seafloor and connected to a Harris OceanNet™ buoy moored about 80 kilometers off the southern coast of Cyprus. The buoy is one element of the Offshore Communications Backbone (OCB) project that Harris is developing with CSnet. OCB is a modular, expandable system of seafloor equipment, power, communications and services for long-term, deep-ocean observation.

"This system will not only serve to protect citizens and visitors of Cyprus, but also all those along the entire, densely populated eastern Mediterranean coast, which is a very seismically active region," said Dr. Andrew Clark, president and chief executive officer of CSnet.

Fast-moving tsunamis pose a special threat in the Mediterranean Sea because it is relatively narrow, with a maximum width of only 1,600 kilometers. By comparison, the Pacific Ocean is so large a tsunami traveling at speeds greater than 750 kilometers an hour can still allow for hours of warning. A tsunami originating at the center of the Mediterranean Sea would arrive on shore within an hour, making real-time monitoring and warning essential.

"Harris developed and has successfully operated an OceanNet™ buoy in the eastern Mediterranean to provide oceanographic data for this region since 2004," said Rick Simonian, president of Harris Maritime Communications Services. "Adding tsunami warning sensors to the more comprehensive OCB system is a natural extension of this unique service offering."

The warning and early response system will incorporate proven tsunami detection techniques, as well as new approaches under evaluation by CSnet to develop a highly reliable, yet cost-effective, system that can benefit developing regions, which are most vulnerable to tsunamis.

"The system will include not only the offshore technology, but also capacity building on shore, including public education and outreach," said Dr. Georgious Georgiou, director of the Oceanography Centre of Cyprus and TWERC project leader. "Detecting the wave is only part of the solution. Transmitting that warning quickly to a population that knows what to do when they receive it is equally critical."