Forecast of wave run-up on coastal structure using offshore wave forecast data

In this paper, first we introduce the wave run-up scale which describes the degree of wave run-up based on observed sea conditions near and on a coastal structure. Then, we introduce a simple method which can be used for daily forecast of wave run-up on a coastal structure. The method derives a multiple linear regression equation between wave run-up scale and offshore wind and wave parameters using long-term photographical observation of wave run-up and offshore wave forecasting model results. The derived regression equation then can be used for forecasting the run-up scale using the offshore wave forecasting model results. To test the implementation of the method, wave run-up scales were observed at four breakwaters in the East Coast of Korea for 9 consecutive months in 2008. The data for the first 6 months were used to derive multiple linear regression equations, which were then validated using the run-up scale data for the remaining 3 months and the corresponding offshore wave forecasting model results. A comparison with an engineering formula for wave run-up is also made. It is found that this method can be used for daily forecast and warning of wave run-up on a coastal structure with reasonable accuracy.     

Haeundae Beach in Korea: Seasonal-to-decadal wave statistics and impulsive beach responses to typhoons

Haeundae Beach represents Korean pocket beaches that are currently erosional and dominated by summertime typhoons. The decadal wave characteristics 9 km offshore of Haeundae Beach were analyzed using the WAM model that was validated through the 2007 wave observations. The wave statistics modelled for 1979–2007 indicates that the seasonal mean significant wave height (H _s ) is highest (0.6–0.7 m) in summer due to typhoons, in contrast to the lowest (around 0.5 m) autumn analog. The wave direction is also pronouncedly seasonal with the principal bearings of SSW and NE in the summer and winter seasons, respectively. The WAM results additionally show that the H _s has gradually increased over the region of Haeundae Beach since 1993. Beach profiling during June–November 2014 shows the opposite processes of the typhoon and fair-weather on beach sands. During a typhoon, foreshore sands were eroded and then accumulated as sand bars on the surf zone. In the subsequent fair-weather, the sand bars moved back to the beach resulting in the surf-zone erosion and foreshore accretion. A total of 5 cycles of these beach-wide sand movements yielded a net retreat (up to 20 m) of the shoreline associated with large foreshore erosion. However, the surf zone only slightly accumulated as a result of the sand cycles. This was attributed to the sand escape offshore from the westernmost tip of the beach. The present study may provide an important clue to understanding the erosional processes in Haeundae Beach.     

Comparison of marine insolation estimating methods in the adriatic sea

We compare insolation results calculated from two well-known empirical formulas (Seckel and Beaudry’s SB73 formula and the original Smithsonian (SMS) formula) and a radiative transfer model using input data predicted from meteorological weather-forecast models, and review the accuracy of each method. Comparison of annual mean daily irradiance values for clear-sky conditions between the two formulas shows that, relative to the SMS, the SB73 underestimates spring values by 9 W m^-2 in the northern Adriatic Sea, although overall there is a good agreement between the annual results calculated with the two formulas. We also elucidate the effect on SMS of changing the ‘Sun-Earth distance factor (f)’, a parameter which is commonly assumed to be constant in the oceanographic context. Results show that the mean daily solar radiation for clear-sky conditions in the northern Adriatic Sea can be reduced as much as 12 W m^-2 during summer due to a decrease in thef value. Lastly, surface irradiance values calculated from a simple radiative transfer model (GM02) for clear-sky conditions are compared to those from SB73 and SMS. Comparison within situ data in the northern Adriatic Sea shows that the GM02 estimate gives more realistic surface irradiance values than SMS, particularly during summer. Additionally, irradiance values calculated by GM02 using the buoy meteorological fields and ECMWF (The European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) meteorological data show the suitability of the ECMWF data usage. Through tests of GM02 sensitivity to key regional meteorological factors, we explore the main factors contributing significantly to a reduction in summertime solar irradiance in the Adriatic Sea.     

Robust path-following of underactuated ships: Theory and experiments on a model ship

A method is proposed to design a new global controller that forces an underactuated ship to follow a reference path under disturbances induced by wave, wind and ocean-current. The controller is designed such that the ship moves on the path with an adjustable forward speed and its total velocity is tangential to the path. The ship under consideration is not actuated in the sway axis, and the mass and damping matrices are not assumed to be diagonal. Nonlinear damping terms are also included to cover both low- and high-speed applications. The new result is facilitated by choosing an appropriate origin of the body-fixed frame, designing a suitable filter of sway velocity, several nonlinear coordinate changes, the backstepping technique, and utilizing the ship dynamic structure. Experimental results on a model ship illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

A damage model for structures with degrading response

The paper presents a hysteretic damage model for the response simulation of structural components with strength and stiffness deterioration under cyclic loading. The model is based on 1D continuum damage mechanics and relates any 2 work‐conjugate response variables such as force‐displacement, moment‐rotation, or stress‐strain. The strength and stiffness deterioration is described by a continuous damage variable. The formulation uses a criterion based on the hysteretic energy and the maximum or minimum deformation for damage initiation with a cumulative probability distribution function for the damage evolution. A series of structural component response simulations showcase the ability of the model to describe different types of hysteretic behavior. The relation of the model's damage variable to the Park‐Ang damage index is also discussed. Because of its consistent and numerically robust formulation, the model is suitable for the large‐scale seismic response simulation of structural systems with strength and stiffness deterioration.     

Theoretical connections between optimization algorithms based on an approximate gradient

Performing a line search method in the direction given by the simplex gradient is a well-known method in the mathematical optimization community. For reservoir engineering optimization problems, both a modification of the simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) and ensemble-based optimization (EnOpt) have recently been applied for estimating optimal well controls in the production optimization step of closed-loop reservoir management. The modified SPSA algorithm has also been applied to assisted history-matching problems. A recent comparison of the performance of EnOpt and a SPSA-type algorithm (G-SPSA) for a set of production optimization test problems showed that the two algorithms resulted in similar estimates of the optimal net-present-value and required roughly the same amount of computational time to achieve these estimates. Here, we show that, theoretically, this result is not surprising. In fact, we show that both the simplex, preconditioned simplex, and EnOpt algorithms can be derived directly from a modified SPSA-type algorithm where the preconditioned simplex algorithm is presented for the first time in this paper. We also show that the expectation of all these preconditioned stochastic gradients is a first-order approximation of the preconditioning covariance matrix times the true gradient or a covariance matrix squared times the true gradient.     

A study of the durability of some shales,mudrocks and siltstones from Brazil

In spite of the considerable area covered by argillaceous sedimentary rocks (comprising shales, mudrocks and siltstones) in Brazil and the number of engineering works associated with these materials, little is known about their geotechnical, physical, chemical, mineralogical and textural characteristics and the effects of weathering processes on them. This work presents results obtained in a research project aiming primarily at identifying degradation processes responsible for the weathering of some of these rocks in Brazil. The rocks under investigation come from two different parts of the country, each one related to a specific engineering problem and to different geoenvironments. The project involved a comprehensive laboratory testing program for basic characterization (chemical and mineralogical composition, index properties, etc.) and evaluation of durability characteristics of these rocks. The present paper describes the testing program carried out and discusses the results obtained.     

Source Parameters for 1999 North Anatolian Fault Zone Aftershocks

We develop a data set of aftershock recordings of the 1999, M = 7.4 Izmit and M = 7.2 Duzce (Turkey) earthquakes to study their source parameters. We combined seismograms from 44 stations maintained by several sources (organizations) to obtain a unified data set of events (2.1 ≤ M_w ≤ 5.5). We calculate source parameters of these small earthquakes by two methods that use different techniques to address the difficulty in obtaining source spectra for small earthquakes subject to interference from site response. One method (program NetMoment (NM), Hutchings, 2004) uses spectra of direct S waves in a simultaneous inversion of local high-frequency network data to estimate seismic moment, source corner frequency (f_c), site attenuation (k) and whole-path Q. This approach takes advantage of the source commonality in all recordings for a particular earthquake by fitting a common Brune source spectrum to the data with a and individual k. The second approach (Mayeda et al., 2003) uses the coda method (CM) to obtain “nonmodel-based” source spectra and moment estimates from selected broadband recording sites. We found that both methods do well for events that allow the comparison with seismic moment estimates derived from waveform modeling. Also, source spectra obtained from the two methods are very closely matched for most of the events they have in common. We use an F test to examine the trade-off between k and f_c picks identified by the direct S-wave method. About half of the events could be constrained to have less than a 50% average uncertainty in f_c and k. We used these source spectra solutions to calculate energy and apparent stress and compare these to estimates from the selected “good quality” source spectra from CM. Both studies have values mutually consistent and show a similar increase in apparent stress with increasing moment. This result has added merit due to the independent approaches to calculate apparent stress. We conclude that both methods are at least partially validated by our study, and they both have usefulness for different circumstances of recording local small earthquakes. CM would work well in studies for which there is a broad magnitude range of events and NM works well for local events recorded by band-limited recorders.     

Equatorial electrojet as part of the global circuit: a case-study from the IEEY

Geomagnetic storm-time variations often occur coherently at high latitude and the day-side dip equator where they affect the normal eastward Sq field. This paper presents an analysis of ground magnetic field and ionospheric electrodynamic data related to the geomagnetic storm which occured on 27 May 1993 during the International Equatorial Electrojet Year (IEEY) experiment. This storm-signature analysis on the auroral, mid-latitude and equatorial ground field and ionospheric electrodynamic data leads to the identification of a sensitive response of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) to large-scale auroral return current: this response consists in a change of the eastward electric field during the pre-sunrise hours (0400–0600 UT) coherently to the high-, mid-, and equatorial-latitude H decrease and the disappearance of the EEJ irregularities between the time-interval 0800–0950 UT. Subsequent to the change in hF during pre-sunrise hours, the observed foF2 increase revealed an enhancement of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) caused by the high-latitude penetrating electric field. The strengthening of these irregularities attested by the Doppler frequency increase tracks the H component at the equator which undergoes a rapid increase around 0800 UT. The H variations observed at the equator are the sum of the following components: S_R, DP, DR, DCF and DT.