(ORDO NEWS) — Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have proposed tracking ionospheric disturbances to quickly predict tsunamis. The results of the study were published in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.
Experts analyzed satellite and radar data on the state of radio signals after the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai volcano in 2022, which caused a tsunami.
It is known that tsunamis deform the lower layers of the atmosphere, generating sound and gravitational waves, which, in turn, cause perturbation of the ionosphere.
Because radio waves travel through the ionosphere, natural disasters can interfere with radio signals and cause errors in GPS navigation.
The researchers found that the volcanic eruption off the islands of Tonga caused waves of atmospheric pressure that spread to Australia and Japan.
These waves vibrated the lower part of the ionosphere, which generated an electric field, which was then transmitted at high speed to the upper ionosphere. Scientists have found that changes in the field occur long before the arrival of the tsunami.
The electromagnetic wave along the magnetic field lines moved at a speed of 1000 kilometers per second, which is much faster than the air pressure wave, which moved at the speed of sound (315 meters per second).
Thus, the ionospheric disturbance was recorded three hours before the atmospheric pressure wave.
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