With facilities like this large-wave flume - the largest in North America - OSU's Hinsdale Wave Research Lab is equipped to model what happens where the ocean meets the shore in ways scientists have never been able to do before.

Research:

Coastal Hazards

Current research

Physical and Numerical Modeling of Intensity-based Tsunami Inundation
Large-Scale Laboratory Tests of Coastal Dune Erosion and Overtopping
Flow and Transport above and within a Rippled Sandy Bed
Coastal Community Development Program (hazards preparedness)
Investigating the Causes of “Hot Spot” Beach Erosion

Physical and Numerical Modeling of Intensity-based Tsunami Inundation (R/CNH-11)

Daniel Cox
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
Oregon State University
202 Apperson Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-3631
Fax: 541-737-0485
E-mail: dan.cox@oregonstate.edu

Vasily Titov
University of Washington JISAO and
NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
7600 Sandy Point Way NE, Bldg. 3
Seattle, WA 98115
Phone: 206-526-4536
Fax: 206-526-6485
E-mail: vasily.titov@noaa.gov

Coastal areas with low water levels may seem safe from tsunamis, but they may in fact have very high water velocities (intensities). These forces could damage or destroy critical infrastructure such as buildings and bridges or lifelines that carry water, power, gas, and telecommunications necessary for recovery efforts.
This research project, to be conducted in the new Tsunami Wave Basin at Oregon State University’s O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, will address the critical knowledge gap of tsunami run-up and inundation. The goals are to (1) produce the first benchmark data set with high-resolution velocity measurements of tsunami inundation over a complex bathymetry and (2) compare two numerical model predictions to validate or refute underlying simplifications to the physics of free-surface turbulent tsunami flows. The inundation velocity data from this experiment will test—for the first time in a large-scale laboratory facility—the potential of numerical models to estimate impact on structures during tsunami inundation.

News release: Seaside Model to Study “Vertical” Tsunami Escape (Sept. 12, 2007)

Large-Scale Laboratory Tests of Coastal Dune Erosion and Overtopping (R/CNH-12)

Tim Maddux
O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory
Department of Civil Engineering
Oregon State University
202 Apperson Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-6968
Fax: 541-737-6974
E-mail: tbmaddux@engr.orst.edu

The O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University is hosting CROSSTEX, a comprehensive study of cross-shore sediment transport. During CROSSTEX, groups focused on many aspects of nearshore processes, but always inside the surf zone. The objective of this research is to extend the existing project up onto the dry beach with a study of coastal dune erosion and overtopping by waves. The researchers plan to examine the turbulence of waves as they scarp dunes and assess simple models for how waves run up onto dunes and eventually overtop them. They will also be providing a comprehensive set of observations of hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics with which to guide further development of process-based models, with the long-term goal of improving the ability of those affected by eroding shorelines to make informed management decisions.

Flow and Transport above and within a Rippled Sandy Bed (R/CNH-13)

H. Tuba Ozkan-Haller
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
Oregon State University
104 Ocean Administration Bldg.
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-9170
Fax: 541-737-2064
E-mail: ozkan@coas.oregonstate.edu

Clare Reimers
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
Oregon State University
104 Ocean Administration Bldg.
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-2426
Fax: 541-737-2064
E-mail: creimers@coas.oregonstate.edu

Robert Wheatcroft
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
Oregon State University
104 Ocean Administration Bldg.
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-3891
Fax: 541-737-2064
E-mail: raw@coas.oregonstate.edu

The exchange of particulates and solutes between the water column and the underlyinging seabed on continental shelves helps to sustain biological productivity, thereby helping to maintain abundant fisheries production. Although permeable sands cover 70 percent of the continental shelf, muddy sediments have received more attention because of their high organic content. However, it is now being recognized that sandy beds can also have a high metabolic rate despite their low organic content, because they are permeable and allow for the transport of nutrients in and out of the bed.

Through experiments in the large wave flume at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University, the researchers will address an aspect of the global carbon and nutrient supply that so far has been neglected. This will help improve understanding of the role of sandy shelves in the ecosystem balance and thus enhance ecosystem management.

Coastal Community Development Program (A/ESG-8)

Jay Rasmussen
OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center
2030 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365
Phone: 541-867-0368
Fax: 541-867-0369
E-mail: jay.rasmussen@oregonstate.edu

The Coastal Community Development Program is a small fund intended to help Sea Grant Extension establish and enhance educational programs for coastal decision makers. This program will provide decision makers with enhanced science-based support needed to balance environmental, social, and economic considerations. Through workshops, presentations, publications, and other means, coastal communities will receive information and strategies for tsunami preparedness, nonpoint source pollution, and issues related to land use planning, smart growth, and sustainable economic development.

Investigating the Causes of “Hot Spot” Beach Erosion (R/CNH-07)

Merrick Haller
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
Oregon State University
206 Graf Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone: 541-737-9141
Fax: 541-737-0485
E-mail: hallerm@engr.orst.edu

The influence of El Niño events and the embayments caused by rip currents are important factors affecting shorelines on the West Coast. These erosional hot spots can lead to catastrophe on developed coastlines. In this continuing project, the researchers are investigating the formation and evolution of rip current embayments through numerical simulations and field observations. In a paper recently submitted for publication, they demonstrated the importance of wave reflection near bathymetric depressions, such as nearshore canyons or dredged pits. Using a new type of wave model for waves over steep features, the researchers found that wave reflection can have an important effect on the wave propagation near these features. This effect has been neglected in the past. At present, they are analyzing beach survey data from the Pacific Northwest to develop a model for rip embayment evolution and also are assembling instrumentation for surveying subtidal bathymetry on the Oregon coast.

Former Sea Grant researchers: What they're doing now

Curt Peterson (coastal dunes)