"The DART network is part of an ongoing effort to increase the U.S. tsunami warning capability," said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "Our detection capabilities also feed into the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, which means our data are part of a shared network that benefits the global community."

This deployment brings the total number in the U.S. DART network to 32 stations in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. When the network is completed in March 2008, NOAA will operate a total of 39 U.S. DART stations.

As waves travel across open waters, the DART stations provide real-time tsunami detection to forecasters at the NOAA tsunami warning centers. Each DART station consists of a bottom pressure sensor anchored to the seafloor, and a companion moored surface buoy. An acoustic link transmits data from the bottom pressure sensor to the surface buoy. Satellite links then relay the data to ground stations, and then to the tsunami warning centers for action within a matter of seconds.

The DART network complements other parts of the U.S. tsunami warning program, including NOAA's network of tide stations, forecast models for at- risk communities and the TsunamiReady education program.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

NOAA's National Weather Service: http://www.weather.gov

NOAA's National Data Buoy Station: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov

Real-time DART Buoy Station Data: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dart.shtml