Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART®)

Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) Data

In the 1980s, NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) developed deep ocean tsunameters for the early detection, measurement, and real-time reporting of tsunamis in the open ocean. The tsunameters were developed by PMEL's Project Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART®). A DART® system consists of a seafloor bottom pressure recorder (BPR) capable of detecting tsunamis as small as 1 centimeter, and a moored surface buoy for real-time communications. In 2003, operational responsibility of DART® transitioned from PMEL to the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).

There are currently 39 U.S. owned and operated DART® buoys installed throughout the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This completes the current requirements for the DART® array. Working with several international partners, NOAA has installed DART® systems in the Indian Ocean (data available at NDBC).

Upon recovery from the seafloor BPR, 15-second-resolution data undergo quality control and harmonic analysis at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The raw data and products are discoverable via the Map, Timelines, and THREDDS Data Server links in the left-hand-side menu. Data are provided as netCDF and as gzipped comma-separated-values (CSV). Please contact the DART® Data manager if you have questions.

Real-time DART® data are available from the NOAA National Data Buoy Center.

DART® buoy animation

DART® Map Flyer (November 2018)

How to Cite

DART® Ocean Bottom Pressure Data - Cite as: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2005): Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART(R)). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5F18WNS [access date].