[IGSMAIL-8683] NASA’s GUARDIAN Tsunami Detection Tech Catches Wave in Real Time

Fri Mar 27 22:00:50 UTC 2026

Author: Attila Komjathy

Dear Colleagues,

GUARDIAN (GNSS Upper Atmospheric Real-time Disaster Information and Alert Network) is, to the best of our knowledge, the first end-to-end, global, high-rate, multi-GNSS system for the near-real-time ionospheric monitoring of natural and anthropogenic hazards.

Developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and leveraging nearly a decade of experience GUARDIAN has been operational since September 2022. The backbone of this system is the continuous stream of real-time data provided by receivers from NASA’s Global GNSS Network, IGS Real-Time Service and JPL's Global Differential GPS system. Without the global coverage, high-rate data transmission, and reliability of these real-time IGS stations, GUARDIAN's rapid-response capabilities would not be possible.

A demonstration of this real-time infrastructure in action occurred during the 29 July 2025 Mw=8.8 Kamchatka earthquake and subsequent Pacific-wide tsunami. Using the real-time delivery of data from our network, GUARDIAN automatically detected the ionospheric ripples generated by both the quake and the tsunami a few minutes after the event.

In Hawai'i, the system flagged the incoming wave 32 minutes before it made landfall. This highlights how GUARDIAN along with the real-time IGS stations serving it can provide vital early confirmation and give communities precious time to prepare.

Our colleagues at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center have produced a visualization of this event and its detection. You can view the media here:

  *   Narrated video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN4q7O7vx6s
  *   Accompanying feature: https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/see-nasas-guardian-catch-a-tsunami/
  *   Technical background: https://www.nasa.gov/earth/natural-disasters/tsunamis/nasas-guardian-tsunami-detection-tech-catches-wave-in-real-time/

For more information and guidance on how to use the data, please visit the GUARDIAN Website: https://guardian.jpl.nasa.gov<https://guardian.jpl.nasa.gov/>.
The data is readily available in near-real-time via NASA's CDDIS: https://cddis.nasa.gov/Data_and_Derived_Products/GNSS/Guardian_IonoTEC_001.html. The list of IGS Real-Time Service stations currently included in the GUARDIAN processing stream is attached to the message.

We are grateful to the community operating the IGS stations that make this work possible. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team at gdgps-guardian at jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:gdgps-guardian at jpl.nasa.gov> should you be interested in collaborating or contributing to this project.

Best wishes,

Attila Komjathy
on behalf of the GDGPS/GUARDIAN Team

Group Supervisor
362G | Near Earth Tracking Systems
JPL
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
M: 818.726.2817
O: 818.393.6828
Attila.Komjathy at jpl.nasa.gov<mailto:Attila.Komjathy at jpl.nasa.gov>

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The IGS Real-Time Service Stations currently included in the GUARDIAN processing stream are AC2400USA ALIC00AUS AREG00PER ARHT00ATA ARUC00ARM ASCG00SHN AUCK00NZL BELE00BRA BILL00USA BOGT00COL BRAZ00BRA BRST00FRA BRUX00BEL BSHM00ISR CAS100ATA CEDU00AUS CHPG00BRA CHPI00BRA CHTI00NZL CHUR00CAN CIBG00IDN CKIS00COK COCO00AUS CORD00ARG CPVG00CPV CRO100VIR CUSV00THA CUT000AUS CZTG00ATF DARW00AUS DAV100ATA DGAR00GBR DLF100NLD DUND00NZL DYNG00GRC FAA100PYF FAIR00USA FALK00FLK FFMJ00DEU FLRS00PRT FUNC00PRT GAMB00PYF GCGO00USA GLPS00ECU GMSD00JPN GODE00USA GRAC00FRA GUAM00GUM HAL100USA HARB00ZAF HLFX00CAN HOB200AUS HOFN00ISL HRAO00ZAF IISC00IND IQAL00CAN IQQE00CHL ISHI00JPN ISPA00CHL JPLM00USA KARR00AUS KAT100AUS KIR000SWE KIR800SWE KIRI00KIR KIRU00SWE KOKB00USA KOUC00NCL KOUG00GUF KOUR00GUF KRGG00ATF KZN200RUS LAUT00FJI LMMF00MTQ LPAL00ESP LPGS00ARG MAC100AUS MADR00ESP MAJU00MHL MAL200KEN MAR700SWE MAW100ATA MBAR00UGA MCM400ATA MDO100USA METG00FIN MIZU00JPN MKEA00USA MOBS00AUS NAUR00NRU NICO00CYP NIUM00NIU NKLG00GAB NLIB00USA NRMG00NCL OHI300ATA ONS100SWE OWMG00NZL PDEL00PRT PERT00AUS PIE100USA PIMO00PHL PNGM00PNG POHN00FSM PTGG00PHL PTVL00VUT QUIN00USA RDSD00DOM REUN00REU REYK00ISL RGDG00ARG RIO200ARG SALU00BRA SAMO00WSM SANT00CHL SCH200CAN SEYG00SYC SGOC00LKA SIN100SGP SOLO00SLB SSIA00SLV STHL00GBR STJO00CAN STR100AUS SUTH00ZAF SYDN00AUS TASH00UZB THTG00PYF THTI00PYF TID100AUS TLSE00FRA TONG00TON TOW200AUS UFPR00BRA ULAB00MNG UNB300CAN URUM00CHN USCL00CHL USN700USA USUD00JPN UTQI00USA VACS00MUS VNDP00USA WGTN00NZL WHIT00CAN WIND00NAM WTZR00DEU WUH200CHN YAR200AUS YELL00CAN YKRO00CIV ZAMB00ZMB.