Shortly after their discussion inspired GTE students pose with the experts; from back left, Dr. U. Glawe (AIT), Dr. James Goff (NIWAR-New Zealand) and Professor Walter Dudley (U of Hawaii - Hilo)
High-ranking Tsunami Experts Hold Discussion with AIT Students
Emphasize the importance of research on tsunami deposits
Two of the world's top experts on tsunamis held a lively discussion with AIT students of the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (GTE) field, some of whom are currently conducting research on tsunami deposits. Dr. W. Dudley, a professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Dr. J. Goff from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research at Christchurch, New Zealand, who are both involved in a rehabilitation project funded by USAID in tsunami struck areas of South Thailand, were spending several days on campus at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center. Dr. Ulrich Glawe of AIT's School of Engineering and Technology organized the spontaneous discussion that took place on 15 November 2005 in his classroom.
Professor Dudley, who has been researching tsunamis for more than 20 years, is the scientific advisor for the Pacific Tsunami Museum and media contact for the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu. Dr. Goff, who is an advisor on tsunami mitigation in New Zealand, has been carrying out research on tsunamis for more 15 years. The two visitors emphasized the importance of research on the sediments deposited by tsunamis, which can shed light on past tsunami history and future tsunami risk.
From these sediments scientists are able to learn where tsunamis occur, how often they occur and how strong they are. Therefore, much debate focused on tsunami geology and its role in hazard mitigation. The visitors described tsunami geology as ground truth for numerical simulations that are the basis for tsunami evacuation maps.
The students learnt that the next step is to interpret the sediments in terms of flow depth and flow dynamics, parameters of interest in the engineering design of tsunami-resistant buildings. An example of such an approach was presented by Dr. Goff showing a computer simulation for a coastal strip in New Zealand. During the lively discussion, the students posed crucial questions such as how to distinguish between tsunami and storm deposits and how tsunami evacuation is carried out in reality in Hawaii. The students also presented their work to the visitors.
Photograph showing tsunami deposits from the Andaman Coast
The visitors were shown recent photographs of tsunami deposits from the Thai Andaman Coast and informed of the research on tsunami deposits that was initiated and continues at the AIT School of Engineering and Technology soon after the 2004 Asian Tsunami struck.