OPTICAL MEASUREMENTS FOR LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS OF TSUNAMI RUN-UP ON CONICAL ISLANDS

Abstract

Recent studies and observations suggest that small islands near the mainland do not offer protection against tsunamis and may in fact amplify the run-up. The goal of this study was to better understand how the combined effect of small islands and reefs affects tsunamis runup on a planar beach. Optical measurements were carried out to study the run-up characteristics. The study was carried out in the Tsunami Wave Basin at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, Oregon State University. Two Panasonic AW-HE60 cameras where used to track run-up on the shore. Through camera calibration we obtain the camera’s parameters which are used to undistort the image and obtain reliable run-up measurements. Using a total station ground control points where collected to rectify the images and obtain ‘real world coordinates’ from the videos. The approach of Rueben et al. (2011) was used to track the wave fronts from the video data.