This paper presents optical measurements of tsunami inundation through an urban waterfront in a laboratory
wave basin. The physical model was constructed at 1:50 scale and was an idealization of the town of Seaside,
Oregon. The fixed-bed model was designed to study the initial inundation zone along an urban waterfront,
such that the flow around several large buildings could be observed. This paper presents an analysis of the
optical measurements made with two overhead video cameras, focusing on tracking the leading edge of the
tsunami inundation through the urban waterfront and quantifies the accuracy of the algorithm used to track
the edge. The results show that the methodology provides high-resolution information in both time and
space of the leading edge position, and that these data can be used to quantify the influence of large
macro-roughness features on the tsunami inundation processes in laboratory settings. The overall effect of
the macro-roughness was to decrease the bore propagation speed relative to the control section with no
macro-roughness.The bore speed couldbe reduced by asmuch as 40% due to the presence of themacro-roughness
relative to the control section.

Authors: 
M. Rueben et al
Product Number: 
ORESU-R-11-025
Source (Journal Article): 
Coastal Engineering 58:229-238
DOI Number (Journal Article): 
10.1016/j.coastaleng.2010.10.005
Year of Publication: 
2011
Price: 
NA
Length: 
10 pp.
Size and Format: 
8 1/2 x 11
Miscellaneous: 
Additional authors: R. Holman, D. Cox, S. Shin, J. Killian, and J. Stanley