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First observation of major tsunami event from space

 Satellites have observed and measured the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26.This is the first observation of major tsunami event in open ocean from space .The satellites flew over the Bay of Bengal about 150 kilometers (93 miles) apart approximately two hours after the quake.

The satellites recorded a maximum sea surface elevation gain of 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) on the open ocean about 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) south of Sri Lanka at the leading crest of a tsunami wave raging out of the Bay of Bengal. It was followed by a trough of sea surface depression of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) below normal. The distance from one wave crest to the next was about 800 kilometers (500 miles). The first wave was followed by a second with a crest height of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) above normal. Near the northern end of the Bay, two waves with crest heights of 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) and 20 centimeters (0.66 feet) above normal were approaching the coasts of Myanmar. Spreading across the Bay of Bengal from the earthquake zone offshore from Western Sumatra, these tsunami waves eventually reached shallow waters along the coasts of Sumatra, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Southern India. Their open ocean speeds reduced from that of a jet plane, 800 kilometers (500 miles) per hour, to about 32 kilometers (20 miles) per hour, building the open ocean wave heights of 0.5 meters (1.6 feet) or less to walls of water up to 10 meters (33 feet) high with great destructive power.

posted by: kyawoo at 20:30 | link | comments (2) |
earth

Comments:

#1  15 January 2005 - 01:33

 

Thanks for the interesting article. I've emailed it to some friends.

Anonymous

#2  16 January 2005 - 11:51

 

Huygens lands!

Anonymous

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