Unda grandis : a framework for the simulation of tsunami waves

Abstract

The recent tragic events following the December 2004 magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean have reminded us of the need for scientific understanding and modelling of complicated physical phenomena in order to prevent unnecessary loss of life from natural disasters [PV05]. Building a computer model that can accurately simulate the physics of tsunamis is very hard requiring the use of supercomputers in order to solve for the full scale three dimensional water wave equations. To render the problem at hand more tractable and into the domain of modest computational devices that are available off the shelf on the market, a number of approximations have to be made [Bra06]. Accurate simulations of tsunami waves are currently unfeasible to be solved by present technology. By making certain assumptions and approximations an acceptable model of the behaviour of a tsunami that can be solved in a reasonable amount of time can be implemented. This report discusses the current research taking place in the area and presents a possible implementation of a model that can account for the generation, propagation and flooding caused by tsunami waves.