The Early Warning and Mitigation System (EWMS) supports the end-to-end chain of preparedness and response activities, from the continuous tracking of multiple sensor data events to the dissemination of tsunami warnings, as well as of maps documenting the post-disaster situation. The highly available operating system is deployed in the Early Warning and Mitigation Centre of the National Service for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) in Indonesia.
By connecting various sensor systems, the tsunami modelling and simulation system, and the users of the various crisis products, the EWMS has a core position situation centre. Based on measurement data received in real-time and splicing with pre-calculated, model-based scenarios, the EWMS supports the operators on duty by providing a comprehensive and clearly laid out visualisation of the current situation, including a combined display of basic geographical data and current sensor information with time series and the forecast of the development of a potential wave.
The valuation of probabilities and risks of a natural disaster are displayed and put the operator on duty in the position of being able to make a decision about the necessity of an alarm. For this, the DSS provides appropriate prepared warning alerts, which take account of the extent, as well as the regional propagation of the event. The DSS supports the generation and distribution of warning alerts that are tailored to the recipient. As an important contribution to the mitigation phase, the EWMS distributes the mapping material for planning and capturing the current situation for the authorities and humanitarian organisations on site.
Since being put into operation, the system has already proven itself in numerous earthquakes and tsunamis, e.g. with the major earthquake in Japan with a magnitude of 8.9 on 11 March 2011, as well as with another strong earthquake off the coast of Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 on 11 April 2012. The experiences from these deployments flowed into the organisational, technical and methodological improvements.
With the support of the German partners, the highly available warning centre hardware, which has been in use since 2006, has been modernised in the meantime. The BMKG Back-up Warning Centre in Denpasar on Bali has now also been equipped with new hardware and new systems.
