Tsunami research programme in Germany for Lankan scientists

Researchers from 11 Indian Ocean littoral states have begun training tsunami detection techniques in the northern German port city of Bremerhaven, a project official disclosed on Monday.

With the Weser River as their classroom, the specialists in particular are learning to use surveying equipment used for taking measurements of the seabed.

On board the research vessel Uthoern, the scientists from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar the Maledives and other states are spending two weeks to learn ways of charting the ocean floor's structure using modern sonar equipment.

The data is to be used to map the seabed and predict the course of giant waves caused by seaquakes, said Hans-Werner Schenke of Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.

The research institute started an international training programme in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean in late December 2004.

Similar to contour lines of a conventional land map, the data forms a picture that helps to identify coastal areas which would be endangered by flooding.

"We can make a model of the course of the waves and project the areas where they strike land," said Schenke. Research had shown that tsunamis could flood onshore valleys with walls of water up to 30 metres high. Special protective barriers or escape corridors could be built and warning systems for residents improved, he added.

"The system can help us to survive," said Malagasy ocean researcher Nivoarimanga Oilinirina Ratovoharison.