Digitized Marigram Records of the 1968 Tsunami Event

Over 3,000 tsunami marigram records, primarily high-resolution digital TIFF images, were created by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. This specific collection includes digitized paper marigrams from the May 16, 1968 tsunami event, part of a 2017 project to rescue deteriorating historical records. The data provides rare digital access to tsunami measurements from the mid-20th century.

Use Cases

• Analyze tsunami wave height and timing from the 1968 event using digitized marigram time-series data.
• Study long-term tsunami recurrence rates by incorporating the 1968 event data with other historical tsunami records.
• Validate tsunami propagation models by comparing simulated waveforms with the observed marigram records from the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• Rescue and preserve historical paper marigram records by creating high-resolution digital TIFF images for archival.

Strengths

• Collection includes over 3,000 total tsunami marigram records from NOAA archives.
• Data from five specific historical tsunami events (1854, 1883, 1896, 1933, 1968) were digitized, providing rare digital access.
• Marigrams were scanned to high-resolution digital TIFF images as part of the Climate Data Modernization Program.

Limitations

• Specific row count, file size, and exact geographic coverage for the 1968 event subset are not provided.
• The dataset's primary format is scanned images, which may require digitization or feature extraction for quantitative time-series analysis.
• Data from events prior to the 20th century are described as having very little existing digital data, indicating potential gaps.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA_NCEI).

Collection Method

Paper marigram records were scanned to high-resolution TIFF images during the NOAA Climate Data Modernization Program and a 2017 Big Earth Data Initiative project.

Time Range

Covers the specific tsunami event of May 16, 1968, with related projects digitizing events from 1854 to 1968.

Freshness

The data was last updated in 1968, representing a historical event record.

Geography

Tsunami events generated in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans; specific gauge locations are not detailed.