[IGSMAIL-8153] Re: [EXTERNAL] Urgent Request for Data and Information to assist Tonga Eruption and Tsunami

Tue Jan 25 13:36:23 UTC 2022

Dear Viliami,

We are so sorry for the incredible difficulties the citizens of Tonga are
enduring.  I saw pictures on Twitter yesterday of people carefully sweeping
a runway by hand!

The closest CORStation we at the US National Geodetic Survey have to Tonga
is ASPA in Pago Pago, American Samoa, but that station has an old receiver
which is behaving badly.  Once we get ASPA operating again, I do not expect
to see any crustal displacement.  I'll ask friends at Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (cc'd) if they have any SAR interferograms of Tonga which may
tell you if your islands were deformed.

Just days before the massive explosion, I was coordinating with a surveyor
who will do work at Midway Island later this year to help get MQSL back
online and look for a site to install a second CORS for redundancy in the
event MQSL was damaged by a tsunami or suffered an outage.  The Tonga event
is a very good lesson for us all to have better and expanded geodetic
infrastructure throughout the Pacific.

At your service,

John

On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 8:05 AM Viliami Folau <viliami.folau at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear Allison,
>
> Thank you for the information and email you emailed last week. THe
> information was very useful. It was included in our presentation to the
> National Emergency Management Committee.
>
> Kind regards
>
> On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 2:13 PM Allison Craddock <craddock at igs.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear IGS Colleagues,
>>
>> Please see the message below from our colleagues at the Tonga Ministry of
>> Lands and Natural Resources. If you have any information or data that you
>> can share, please contact Viliami at viliami.folau at gmail.com and copy me.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Allison
>>
>>
>> Good afternoon colleagues,
>>
>> We are just able to access our emails. Just an update, this is my first
>> outside communication after 7 days. We are all fine now apart from the
>> volcanic dust, lack of water., with people stranded in outer islands that
>> were destroyed.
>>
>> I urgently need your assistance in providing any information or data as
>> our internet connection is still unstable. This information includes but
>> not limited to the following:
>>
>>    - Earthquake and land movement data before, during and post disaster.
>>    - Sea level data before, during and after the eruption including
>>    temperature and pressure (FYI we lost our connection to CORS and tide gauge)
>>    - Any analysis you have on the volcano like satellite images or
>>    bathymetric data
>>
>> I am looking forward to any assistance from you regarding this request.
>>
>> Kind regards
>> --
>> Viliami Tani Ma'ake* FOLAU*
>> *Deputy CEO*
>> *Corporate Services DIVISION*
>> *Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources*
>> *Tonga*
>>
>> *Office Direct Line: (676) 7401312*
>> *Office Operator: (676) 23611*
>> *Mobile: (676) 8429969*
>>
>>
>>
>> *Allison B. Craddock*
>>
>> Director, International GNSS Service Central Bureau
>> Manager of External Relations, IAG Global Geodetic Observing System
>>
>> Systems Engineer
>> International Coordination and Partnership Office
>> Space Geodesy Program
>> NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
>> 4800 Oak Grove Drive
>> MS 238-600
>> Pasadena, CA 91109 USA
>>
>> Mobile: +1 818 237 0425
>> craddock at jpl.nasa.gov
>> craddock at igs.org
>>
>
>
> --
> Viliami Tani Ma'ake* FOLAU*
> *Deputy CEO*
> *Corporate Services DIVISION*
> *Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources*
> *Tonga*
>
> *Office Direct Line: (676) 7401312*
> *Office Operator: (676) 23611*
> *Mobile: (676) 8429969*
> _______________________________________________
> IGSMail mailing list
> IGSMail at lists.igs.org
> https://lists.igs.org/mailman/listinfo/igsmail
>

-- 
John Galetzka
CORS Branch Chief
Spatial Reference System Division
National Geodetic Survey / NOS / NOAA
1315 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3280
Email: john.galetzka at noaa.gov
Mobile: 626-375-4153
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