Laboratory experiments of tsunami run-up and withdrawal in patchy coastal forest on a steep beach

Laboratory experiments were carried out to study tsunami flow dynamics in the presence of patchy macro-roughness, representing coastal forest, on a 1:10 steep beach. The experimental setup included four cross-shore rows of roughness patches affixed to the dry beach in a staggered array, such that 12 % of the staggered array region had higher roughness. The flow field during run-up and withdrawal was quantified using point measurements of velocity and flow depth at 20 locations, while high-resolution video was used to track bore position during run-up. Data analysis revealed that while inundated area was marginally impacted when patchy roughness was present, flow depths and flow force were, respectively, increased by more than 40 and 30 % in some areas within the patch array; a decrease in flow force was also observed in some areas. Alongshore variation in flow depth, induced by the roughness patches, was most pronounced during withdrawal. These findings suggest that patchy macro-roughness, like that created by coastal forest, will simultaneously lead to increased protection in some areas and decreased protection in others. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014