NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF TSUNAMI PROPAGATION ON WIDE REEF PLATFORM

Abstract

During the 2009 Samoan Islands Tsunami, the wide coral reef platform in front of the islands affected the approaching tsunami behavior. This research aims to understand the characteristics of a tsunami propagating over a reef platform by using a turbulence model. A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model was used to simulate wave breaking and energy dissipation. The results of numerical simulations by using LES model were shown to reproduce well the results of the field survey in the 2009 Samoan Islands Tsunami. The present method may also apply to other countries which have coral reefs and contribute to regional tsunami mitigation strategies. It is important to understand what is the phenomenon that people in coastal areas actually experience as well as the height and arrival time of a tsunami.