An Efficient and Robust Tsunami Model on Unstructured Grids. Part I: Inundation Benchmarks

A modern multi-purpose baroclinic circulation model (SELFE) has been recently extended to include the ability to simulate tsunami propagation and inundation. The core model is based on the 3-D nonlinear shallow-water wave (NSW) equations, which are solved on unstructured grids, using the finite-element method. A semi-implicit method is used to solve all equations to enhance numerical stability, thus bypassing the most stringent CFL restriction on the time step. Further aided algorithmically by an Eulerian-Lagrangian solution of the advection terms in the momentum equation and by a simple yet effective inundation algorithm, SELFE is very efficient and robust in both quasi-2-D (with two vertical layers) and 3-D modes. A quasi-2-D version of the model is being used to update and expand the characterization of tsunami hazards along the Oregon coast. As a part of a rigorous testing procedure that includes multiple types of coastal problems, we present in this paper a quantitative assessment of performance of the quasi-2-D SELFE for two challenging open benchmark problems proposed in the 3^rd International Workshop on Long-wave Runup Models. Satisfactory results are obtained for both problems.     

Evaluating Tsunami Impact on the Gulf of Cadiz Coast (Northeast Atlantic)

The Gulf of Cadiz coasts are exposed to tsunamis. Emergency planning tools are now taking into account this fact, especially because a series of historical occurrences were strikingly significant, having left strong evidence behind, in the mareographic records, the geological evidence or simply the memory of the populations. The study area is a strip along the Algarve coast, south Portugal, an area known to have been heavily impacted by the 1 November 1755 event. In this study we use two different tsunami scenarios generated by the rupture of two thrust faults identified in the area, corresponding to 8.1?C8.3 magnitude earthquakes. Tsunami propagation and inundation computation is performed using a non-linear shallow water code with bottom friction. Numerical modeling results are presented in terms of flow depth and current velocity with maximum values of 7?m and 8?m/s for inundation depth and flow speed, respectively. These results constitute a valuable tool for local authorities, emergency and decision planners to define the priority zones where tsunami mitigation measures must be implemented and to develop tsunami-resilient communities.     

Boulder deposition during major tsunami events

A remarkable accumulation of marine boulders located above the present spring tide level has occurred in two coastal lowlands of the Algarve (Portugal). The size‐interval of the particles studied here is seldom reported in the literature in association with extreme events of coastal inundation, thus making this study of relevance to many other coasts worldwide. The spreads of boulders extend several hundred meters inland and well beyond the present landward limit of storm activity. The marine origin of the boulders is demonstrated by well‐developed macro‐bioerosion sculpturing and in situ skeletal remains of endolithic shallow marine bivalves. The good state preservation of the fossils within the boulders indicates that abrasion during transport and redeposition was not significant. We envisage boulder deposition as having taken place during the Lisbon tsunami of ad 1755 through the simultaneous landward entrainment of coarse particles from nearshore followed by rapid shoreward suspended‐dominated transport and non‐graded redeposition that excluded significant sorting by weight or boulder dimensions. We use numerical hydrodynamic modeling of tsunami (and storm) waves to test the observational data on boulder dimensions (density, size, distribution) on the most likely processes of sediment deposition. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of the study of boulder deposits in tsunami reconstruction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climatic and Tidal Forcing of Hydrography and Chlorophyll Concentrations in the Columbia River Estuary

Hydrographic patterns and chlorophyll concentrations in the Columbia River estuary were compared for spring and summer periods during 2004 through 2006. Riverine and oceanic sources of chlorophyll were evaluated at stations along a 27-km along-estuary transect in relation to time series of wind stress, river flow, and tidal stage. Patterns of chlorophyll concentration varied between seasons and years. In spring, the chlorophyll distribution was dominated by high concentrations from freshwater sources. Periods of increased stream flow limited riverine chlorophyll production. In summer, conversely, upwelling winds induced input of high-salinity water from the ocean to the estuary, and this water was often associated with relatively high chlorophyll concentrations. The frequency, duration, and intensity of upwelling events varied both seasonally and interannually, and this variation affected the timing and magnitude of coastally derived material imported to the estuary. The main source of chlorophyll thus varied from riverine in spring to coastal in summer. In both spring and summer seasons and among years, modulation of the spring/neap tidal cycle determined stratification, patterns of mixing, and the fate of (especially freshwater) phytoplankton. Spring tides had higher mixing and neap tides greater stratification, which affected the vertical distribution of chlorophyll. The Columbia River differs from the more tidally dominated coastal estuaries in the Pacific Northwest by its large riverine phytoplankton production and transfer of this biogenic material to the estuary and coastal ocean. However, all Pacific Northwest coastal estuaries investigated to date have exhibited advection of coastally derived chlorophyll during the upwelling season. This constitutes a fundamental difference between Pacific Northwest estuaries and systems not bounded by a coastal upwelling zone.     

Tides in the English Channel and Southern North Sea. A frequency domain analysis using model TEA-NL

The frequency-time finite element model TEA-NL is used to investigate tidal propagation and circulation in the English Channel and the southern North Sea, in the context of the Tidal Flow Forum benchmark. Quality of TEA-NL simulations, relative to both field data and simulations by other numerical models is discussed. Sensitivity analyses are performed with regard to the effect on accuracy of bottom friction, and the effect on computational cost of the strategy used to harmonically decompose and iterate non-linear loading terms in the shallow water equations.     

The Travels of Critiques of Neoliberalism: Urban Experiences from the “Borderlands”

This article contributes to the ongoing scrutiny of the travels of critiques of neoliberalism in urban studies. Using the case of a state-led urban regeneration program implemented in Portugal since 2000, the Polis Program, the article weighs in on meta-analytical discussions about the hegemonic status of neoliberalism as a theoretical concept and as an analytical framework and on discussions about the travels of dominant critiques of neoliberalism beyond the sites of epistemological production. The article argues that the current analytical overinvestment in neoliberalism may obscure important drivers of contemporary urbanization and that recourse to a diversity of concepts may be a more profitable line of inquiry. The article suggests that current efforts at epistemological renewal within urban studies benefit from taking up cities in the “borderlands” of urban theory as relevant cases in their own right. The article offers further considerations on the purchase of neoliberalism in contemporary urban literature.[Key words: neoliberalism, critiques, urban theory, urban planning and policy, Portugal, Polis Program]     

Paying as the urban areas grow – implementing and managing urban development charges using a GIS application

Urban development charges (UDC) are considered relevant taxation instruments that can improve the economic sustainability of urban areas and the financial health of the respective local governments. The economic formulation and justification based on the ‘direct benefit principle,’ the ‘accountability principle,’ and the ‘proportionality principle’ requires a methodology that can be supported by a geographic information system (GIS) application. This article presents the research output of a real case study – the municipality of Aljezur, Portugal – and the fundamentals of the GIS tool that was designed. This GIS-based methodology comprises a multi-annual infrastructure capital plan and an accurate zoning map for spatial differentiation of values combining municipal-wide and site-specific approaches, following ‘pay as the urban areas grow’ perspective applied to urban development and new buildings. It requires data integration of the urban planning process with infrastructure and urban growth data in order to manage and monitor the computation of this charge over time, thereby increasing the accuracy, the objectivity and the clarity of the process. The results obtained show that this UDC-GIS application seems well adapted to small municipalities. Its possible replication and use in other contexts require adaptations derived from different urban and taxation policy options and from different legal, organizational, technological, and informational local systems.     

Numerical modeling of flow characteristics in a rotating annular flume

A rotating annular flume (RALF) has been constructed at the Center of Coastal and Land-Margin Research (CCALMR) to study the biogeochemistry of sediment–water interfaces. The flume was designed to allow for evolving, integrated measurements of physical, chemical, and biological parameters, as often as possible in a real-time, computer-controlled mode. Several numerical models have or are being developed/applied to provide a virtual representation of the flume, with the dual objective of assisting the design of experiments and of assessing our level of understanding of processes and process interactions. We will concentrate here on the characterization of the flow in the flume, a basic but interestingly complex problem. The operational challenge is to minimize secondary circulation and lateral variability of shear stress, factors that prevent the flume flow to match the idealized concept of an endless channel flow. Satisfactory minimization of these factors can be achieved by allowing both the top and the bottom rings of the flume to rotate in contrary directions, a concept introduced by earlier research efforts and verified in RALF via Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) measurements and 3D numerical modeling. Once logistics (e.g., in the form of the size of the ADV's sampling volume and of the vertical discretization of the numerical grids) are appropriately handled, observations and model results show good agreement. This agreement legitimates the use of the model as a design and investigative tool, in particular to define optimal rotation ratios of the top and bottom rings. The ratios that minimize secondary flow and lateral variability of shear stress are distinct. This is a logical (generating mechanisms are different) but often not recognized aspect of the operation of annular flumes.