Events Calendar

Hydrodynamic Modeling for the State of California Ports and Harbors: Past, Present and Future

Speaker:Dr. Aggeliki Barberopoulou,
Postdoctoral Research Associate,
Sony Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USCAbstract:
Following the global impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, California faced a challenging tsunami warning (June 14, 2005) and a relatively small tsunami that caused extensive damage in Crescent City harbor (November 15, 2006) that served as a wake-up call that the tsunami threat is not well understood for many coastal communities. These incidents attracted new attention to tsunami scientists and emergency managers who demanded a more systematic, consistent, and efficient response system (Synolakis and Bernard, 2006; Bernard et al., 2006).
The present mapping collaboration between the USC-Tsunami Research Center (TRC), Office of Emergency Services, and the California Geological Survey includes 35 separate areas that cover the most important ports, harbors, coastal urban centers, and popular recreational areas in California. This new tsunami inundation mapping effort is in its final phase with inundation map production to be completed by summer of 2009. We note that the first generation of inundation maps for California State emergency management was based on more conservative "worst case but realistic scenarios" (Synolakis et al, 2002), which reflected the understanding of offshore hazards pervasive ten years ago. New local tsunami sources previously unaccounted for, add complexity to hazard studies for California. Further developments in tsunami modeling made it possible to investigate the effect of a wider variety of far field tsunami sources on different parts of the State.
The availability of high-resolution bathymetric and topographic data allows for further insight into the vulnerability of ports, harbors, and other open water bodies significant for the state economy. Recent field work and numerical simulations show that using higher resolution relief data may also help evacuation plans to become more efficient when time is very limited. Additional work remains in high-risk areas of the State with large populations and limited evacuation options to help identify "safer" areas for emergency planning.
The latter are some examples of what can be done to improve tsunami preparedness for California. Following a brief look into the past and an introduction to the work currently carried out by TRC, potential projects are presented that are of interest to the authors. This may also set the ground for new collaborations within the department and beyond.

Location: Kaprielian Hall (KAP) - 209

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Evangeline Reyes