STUDY ON TSUNAMI REDUCTION EFFECTS DUE TO PRESENSE OF MANGROVE FORESTS

Abstract

We are increasingly aware of various benefits that mangrove forests provide us for our environment. The great tsunami occurred off the west coast of Sumatra Is. in 2004 leads us to look at another aspect of mangrove forests; their damage reduction capacity. This study discusses hydrodynamic functions of mangrove forests to attenuate tsunami waves. In order to quantify the dumping effect, a mathematical model is proposed. The present analysis reveals that universal properties on mangrove-tree configurations and on physical strength against tsunami sweeping power should be clarified for further improvement of the model predictability.