|
|
| At Cornell, Philip Liu, professor of civil and environmental engineering, uses this 120-foot-long wave tank to research the characteristics of ocean-wave climates and how waves interact with coastlines and coastal structures. Since Jan. 10, Liu has been in Sri Lanka, leading a research team to study the magnitude of the Dec. 26 tsunami. Frank DiMeo/University Photography |
Related stories:
By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.
Philip Liu went to Sri Lanka to pull hope from calamity.
Only days after the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami hit Asian coastlines, Liu, a Cornell professor of civil engineering, led a delegation of American scientists from the National Science Foundation's Tsunami Research Group and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) into wave-ravaged Sri Lanka.
He is due back in Ithaca today (Jan. 20) to give a firsthand report on the damage and destruction he has encountered in Sri Lanka and Thailand. His data is expected to include wave heights, evidence from sedimentary deposits and structural damage. His team's goal is to improve tsunami prediction and warning systems. In recent days such systems have been proposed for the Indian Ocean by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and for the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans by the Bush administration.
|
Liu's first report on his team's findings was given on Jan. 15 at a seminar in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Liu's prime expertise is in tsunamis and wave propagation, and he helped to develop the tsunami warning system for countries surrounding the Pacific Ocean.
His research centers on understanding the characteristics of ocean-wave climates and the way that waves interact with coastlines and coastal structures. In the case of the Indian Ocean tsunami, water was lifted by energy generated by a massive earthquake northwest of Indonesia, Sumatra, then fell back, creating a massive wave system that spread outward from the earthquake's epicenter. It slammed into the coastlines of Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka with devastating force.
"We are engaged in theoretical research on the propagation and transformation of linear and weakly nonlinear water waves over complex ocean bathymetry [changes in water-depth measurements]," Liu said. His Cornell team has developed a model to calculate wave amplitude and the direction of wave propagation in the near-shore environment.
Traveling with Liu's scientific group in Sri Lanka were reporters Tom Paulson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, William Hermann of the Arizona Republic, and Quirin Schiermeier of the journal Nature.
Reporting in his Web log ("blog") on Jan. 17, Paulson noted the difficulty of the working conditions in wave-ravaged Sri Lanka. "I'm only now feeling somewhat rested. I don't remember ever being so tired for so long on assignment. I've traveled in Africa, India and Asia -- often under difficult circumstances in remote areas -- but I'd have to say nothing was quite as exhausting as covering this story," he wrote.
Paulson visited a refugee camp and worked with a teacher in a tent full of children. "I was given a bundle of what I thought were coloring books, but discovered they were pamphlets telling these kids how to avoid land mines and other weapons. They were healthy, laughing kids, but the situation just about did me in," he observed.
Schiermeier's blog was equally heart-rending, describing the bleakness Liu's science team faced in Sri Lanka. On Jan. 13 he wrote, "I speak with a group of helpers who are dredging loads of unidentifiable dark lumps out of a destroyed house. All wear surgical masks, and not just against the penetrating smell of wet garbage. Just a few hours ago they discovered a human head in an advanced state of decomposition. They buried it on the beach."
Schiermeier described the barren area in Sri Lanka where the Kinniya District Hospital once stood: "Around 40 patients had been in the hospital when the flood came out of the blue; most of them are dead or missing," he wrote.
Working with Liu in Sri Lanka were: Harindra Joseph Fernando, professor, Arizona State University; Costas Synolakis, professor, University of Southern California; Patrick Lynett, assistant professor, Texas A&M University; Bretwood Higman, graduate student, University of Washington; Bruce Jaffe, oceanographer, USGS; and Robert Peters, geologist, USGS.
Schiermeier's blog:
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050110/full/050110-10.html
| Cornell Chronicle Front Page | | Table of Contents | | Cornell News Service Home Page |