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Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Sources and Models (CATSAM) Map Viewer
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  • Nicolas Arcos,
  • Silvia Chacon-Barrantes,
  • Jesse Varner,
  • Alberto Lopez
Nicolas Arcos
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, University of Colorado-Boulder CIRES

Corresponding Author:nicolas.arcos@noaa.gov

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Silvia Chacon-Barrantes
National University of Costa Rica
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Jesse Varner
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
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Alberto Lopez
Puerto Rico Seismic Network
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Abstract

Since 2011, UNESCO - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Experts Meetings and CaribeWave exercises have resulted in a variety of tsunami models of credible scenarios that would impact the Caribbean and adjacent regions. However, results generated from such scenarios were not readily available to potential users such as emergency management officials and decision makers. During the 12th Session of the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE-EWS) in May 2017, a formal recommendation was adopted for the working group on Hazard Assessment to compile the aforementioned tsunami scenarios with their associated tsunami energy plots in addition to other valuable tsunami data products from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), and World Data Service (WDS) for Geophysics. In response to this recommendation, the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions Tsunami Sources and Models (CATSAM) map viewer was developed by NCEI/WDS and the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. CATSAM is intended to be a tool for modelers and hazard assessment professionals, based on the UNESCO/IOC led efforts on defining tsunami potential within the region. It provides the seismic parameters to reproduce the scenarios, as well as how they overlap with the Global Historical Tsunami Database developed and maintained by NCEI/WDS. CATSAM currently has 41 defined rupture geometries and 13 energy plots divided into 15 sub-regions. The map viewer was implemented using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript, built upon geospatial services published with ArcGIS Enterprise. While CATSAM is an initiative of the ICG/CARIBE-EWS, upcoming IOC/UNESCO Experts Meetings on tsunami sources for Pacific subregions could provide an augmented collection of tsunami scenarios for other tsunami prone areas of the world.