NSF Award Abstract - #0086571

AWSFL008-DS3

Upgrading Oregon State's Multidirectional Wave Basin for Remote Tsunami Research

Abstract

The George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program is a project funded under the NSF Major Research Equipment Program. This cooperative agreement, under the NEES Program, establishes a NEES tsunami/wave basin research site located at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory (WRL) on the Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, campus. This award is an outcome of the peer review of proposals submitted to program solicitation NSF 00-6, "NEES: Earthquake Engineering Research Equipment." The following equipment is provided under this award: (1) long-stroke, high velocity, directional, solitary wave generator, (2) velocity transducers, (3) video workstations, (4) database and file server, (5) expansion of the existing data acquisition system to accommodate teleobservation, teleoperation, teletransmission, and telestorage, and (6) equipment for teleobservation and teleoperation capabilities so that experiments on the equipment will be observable and controllable via high performance network connections. To accommodate the new wave generator and tsunami experimentation, Oregon State University will expand its existing 3-D wave basin facility at the WRL to 26.5m x 48.8m x 2.0m deep and provide a bridge crane over the wave basin. The basin will be equipped with electro-resistive wave gauges to provide accurate, local wave measurements and to validate other imaging techniques (video, laser, radar and acoustic) to increase aerial coverage of wave diffraction and refraction patterns. This equipment will be operational by 2004 or earlier and will be managed as a national shared-use NEES equipment site, with teleobservation and teleoperation capabilities, to provide new earthquake engineering research testing capabilities for test and validation of advanced analytical and numerical models of tsunami-wave/structure interactions for a full range of ocean, coastal, and harbor studies through 2014. Shared-use access and training will be coordinated through the NEES Consortium. This NEES equipment site will be connected to the NEES collaboratory via a Gigabit Ethernet link to the information management facilities located at the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering (NACSE). The transmission of data to remote sites will take place via Internet2's Abilene Network. Digital cameras will be used to enhance the physical model experience by providing multiple, simultaneous frames of reference and fields of view for both local and remote investigators. In addition, full-motion cameras, a new data acquisition system, and a comprehensive Information Architecture will allow local and remote users to rapidly examine selected data channels at various levels of analysis. A Tsunami Experiment Databank will be established so the broader earthquake engineering research community can study the results of tsunami experiments, reducing the need for experimentation and providing data for validating numerical models. The University will integrate this tsunami/wave basin equipment into its research program, undergraduate and graduate instruction, and K-12 and community outreach. The University will also provide training opportunities for outside researchers through on-site courses and workshops, and web-based materials that will assist university faculty at other institutions to incorporate tsunami test experiences in undergraduate and graduate courses.