Three-dimensional numerical modeling of tsunami-related internal gravity waves in the Hawaiian atmosphere

Abstract

The tremendous tsunami following the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake produced internal gravity waves (IGWs) in the neutral atmosphere and large disturbances in the. overlying ionospheric plasma while propagating through the Pacific ocean. To corroborate the tsunamigenic hypothesis of these perturbations, we use a 3D numerical modeling of the ocean-atmosphere coupling, to reproduce the tsunami signature observed in the airglow by the imager located in Hawaii and clearly showing the shape of the modeled IGW. The agreement between data and synthetics not only supports the interpretation of the tsunami-related-IGW behavior, but strongly shows that atmospheric and ionospheric remote sensing can provide new tools for oceanic monitoring and tsunami detection.