A New Tool for Inundation Modeling: Community Modeling Interface for Tsunamis (ComMIT)

摘要

Almost 5 years after the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tragedy, the 10 August 2009 Andaman tsunami demonstrated that accurate forecasting is possible using the tsunami community modeling tool Community Model Interface for Tsunamis (ComMIT). ComMIT is designed for ease of use, and allows dissemination of results to the community while addressing concerns associated with proprietary issues of bathymetry and topography. It uses initial conditions from a precomputed propagation database, has an easy-to-interpret graphical interface, and requires only portable hardware. ComMIT was initially developed for Indian Ocean countries with support from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). To date, more than 60 scientists from 17 countries in the Indian Ocean have been trained and are using it in operational inundation mapping.