Mr. Misaeli Funaki, Director of Fiji Meteorological Service, reflects on the valuable coastline data provided by Spotter wave buoys when severe Tropical Cyclone swept through four Pacific Island countries in early April 2020. Tide gauges and wave buoys across the region recorded the event in real time, providing critical information supporting disaster response and recovery, which will help to improve weather and storm surge models. “Global models and satellites provide great insights on what is happening offshore, but not what happens at the coastline, where the majority of Pacific islanders live,” says SPC Oceanographer, Herve Damlamian.

Sea level and tsunami monitoring stations in Solommon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga are all part of an Australian funded network established in the early 1990s to monitor sea level and climate across thirteen Pacific Island countries. The network is currently supported by the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac) through the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Geoscience Australia, and the Pacific Community (SPC).