TY - JOUR
T1 - Mega-ship-generated tsunami
T2 - A field observation in Tampa Bay, Florida
AU - Wang, Ping
AU - Cheng, Jun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - The displacement of a large amount of water in a moderate-sized estuary by a fast-moving mega-ship can generate tsunami-like waves. Such waves, generated by cruise ships, were observed in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Two distinct, long tsunami-like waves were measured, which were associated with the passage of a large cruise ship. The first wave had a period of 5.4 min and a height of 0.40 m near the shoreline. The second wave had a period of 2.5 min and was 0.23 m high. The peak velocity of the onshore flow during the second wave reached 0.65 m/s. The shorter, second wave propagated considerably faster than the first wave in the breaking zone. The measured wave celerity was less than 50% of the calculated values, using the shallow water approximation of the dispersion equation, suggesting that nonlinear effects play an important role. A fundamental similarity among the generation of tsunamis, as induced by mega-ships, landslides or earthquakes, is a process that causes a vertical velocity at the sea surface, where a freely propagating wave is produced. This mega-ship-generated tsunami provides a prototype field laboratory for systematically studying tsunami dynamics, particularly the strong turbulent flows associated with the breaking of a tsunami wave in the nearshore, and tsunami–land interactions. It also provides a realistic demonstration for public education, which is essential for the preparation and management of this unpreventable hazard.
AB - The displacement of a large amount of water in a moderate-sized estuary by a fast-moving mega-ship can generate tsunami-like waves. Such waves, generated by cruise ships, were observed in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA. Two distinct, long tsunami-like waves were measured, which were associated with the passage of a large cruise ship. The first wave had a period of 5.4 min and a height of 0.40 m near the shoreline. The second wave had a period of 2.5 min and was 0.23 m high. The peak velocity of the onshore flow during the second wave reached 0.65 m/s. The shorter, second wave propagated considerably faster than the first wave in the breaking zone. The measured wave celerity was less than 50% of the calculated values, using the shallow water approximation of the dispersion equation, suggesting that nonlinear effects play an important role. A fundamental similarity among the generation of tsunamis, as induced by mega-ships, landslides or earthquakes, is a process that causes a vertical velocity at the sea surface, where a freely propagating wave is produced. This mega-ship-generated tsunami provides a prototype field laboratory for systematically studying tsunami dynamics, particularly the strong turbulent flows associated with the breaking of a tsunami wave in the nearshore, and tsunami–land interactions. It also provides a realistic demonstration for public education, which is essential for the preparation and management of this unpreventable hazard.
KW - Estuary
KW - Long waves
KW - Nearshore hydrodynamics
KW - Prototype laboratory
KW - Ship wake
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104944388&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/jmse9040437
DO - 10.3390/jmse9040437
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104944388
SN - 2077-1312
VL - 9
JO - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
JF - Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
IS - 4
M1 - 437
ER -