Real time sea level data transmission from tide gauges for tsunami monitoring and long term sea level rise observations

The authors present the development and implementation of a 'tsunami enabled' tide gauge which allows real time data to be returned from almost anywhere on Earth. At its centre is a low power; embedded Linux platform, which performs the data logging and communications. This is attached to a radar and pressure sensors that are queried over a serial interface. Telemetry is through the Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) system which allows a bi-directional broadband connection over Ethernet, permitting remote reconfiguration when required, and faster, more frequent tide gauge data. Data transmission is over an internet connection with files containing one minute values from three sensors returned every five minutes.