最新天美传媒

最新天美传媒

USF College of Marine Science

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The Shallow Underwater Buoy for Geodesy (SUBGEO) buoy system will test advanced tsunami forecasting techniques by measuring changes in seafloor movements. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

IMAGE ABOVE: The Shallow Underwater Buoy for Geodesy (SUBGEO) buoy system will test advanced tsunami forecasting techniques by measuring changes in seafloor movements. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.  

USF scientists deploy tsunami-sensing buoy, aiding future warning system

By: Dyllan Furness, Director of Communications

There鈥檚 often little warning when a tsunami strikes, but a research team at USF aims to improve the forecasting of these hazardous events for communities that are most at risk. 

The Shallow Underwater Buoy for Geodesy (SUBGEO) system is a research partnership between the USF School of Geosciences, the College of Marine Science (CMS), and international collaborators. Born from the need to monitor and forecast earthquakes in shallow coastal waters, the SUBGEO system is designed to measure seafloor motion, such as strain and release processes, at depths of less than 650 feet in subduction zones where earthquakes and tsunamis are most prevalent. 

  • The Shallow Underwater Buoy for Geodesy (SUBGEO) buoys were loaded from the seawall at the USF College of Marine Science. Photo credit: Sean Beckwith.

  • The buoys were deployed at two locations on the west Florida shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Photo Credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

  • Several crew members and a crane were required to deploy the buoys. Photo Credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

  • The west Florida shelf serves as a valuable testing ground for the SUBGEO system before it鈥檚 deployed in more seismically active locations around the world. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

  • The buoys will remain deployed for at least 24 months. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

The latest versions of the SUBGEO system were deployed in mid-December at two locations on the west Florida shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Although the region is not prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, it serves as valuable testing ground for such a system before it鈥檚 deployed in more seismically active locations around the world. 

Jay Law is a research scientist in the Ocean Circulation Lab at the USF College of Marine Science. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

IMAGE ABOVE: Jay Law is a research scientist in the Ocean Circulation Lab at the USF College of Marine Science. Photo credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

鈥淭he seafloor on the west Florida shelf, including Tampa Bay, is essentially static,鈥 said , a research scientist in the at CMS, who has been heavily involved in the project since its inception. 鈥淭he purpose of this deployment is to test the accuracy of the GPS system where there is little background noise. This way we can see how much movement of the buoy is attributed to waves and other ocean processes, and this determines the accuracy of the system in measuring seafloor movement.鈥

The SUBGEO system uses a highly precise GPS to measure horizontal and vertical displacement of the seafloor to an accuracy of one-two centimeters, allowing for the collection of critical data that can help predict events months or years in advance. 

Constructed in the machine shop at CMS, the original system is approximately 100-feet long and rises 35-feet above the waterline. It was first tested inside Tampa Bay near Egmont Key in 2018 and was deployed again this week off the Florida coast in at a depth of 65 feet. 

An additional cabled buoy, also constructed at CMS, is capable of measuring seafloor changes in deeper waters. The larger system was deployed further offshore in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of about 215 feet.

Tim Dixon is a Distinguished University Professor at the USF School of Geosciences and principal investigator on the SUBGEO project. Photo Credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

IMAGE ABOVE: Tim Dixon is a Distinguished University Professor at the USF School of Geosciences and principal investigator on the SUBGEO project. Photo Credit: Samantha D鈥橝ngelo.

鈥淐urrent monitoring technology for tsunamis focuses on deep waters, but seafloor motion in shallow waters is also diagnostic and far less expensive,鈥 said Tim Dixon, a Distinguished University Professor at the USF School of Geosciences and principal investigator on the project. 鈥淚t's our hope that future iterations of the SUBGEO system can be used to save lives in coastal communities around the world.鈥 

The buoys will remain deployed for at least 24 months and their baseline results will help refine future versions of the system for operational deployment in subduction zones, where strain and release processes are more common.

鈥淎n extraordinary coordinated effort made this science possible,鈥 said Tom Frazer, dean of CMS. 鈥淭his project demonstrates the best of what USF has to offer and shines a light on the combined engineering, fabrication, and logistical expertise that exists at the 最新天美传媒. We鈥檙e proud to have partnered with the School of Geosciences and other outside organizations to make these deployments a success.鈥

The SUBGEO system was designed with help from the (INGV). Funding for its development and fabrication is provided by the with assistance from researchers at the , a NOAA-funded mapping center hosted at the College of Marine Science. Special thanks to the for assistance with vessel logistics for deployment. Additional collaborators include and the Ocean Circulation Lab at CMS.

Carlyn Scott, Science Communications Manager contributed to this article.

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