NEES Training Workshop:
Simulation & Large-Scale Testing of Nearshore Wave Dynamics
July 8-10, 2009 - Corvallis, Oregon

New! Agenda - with links to presentations
New! Participating Remotely

The NEES Tsunami Research Facility and ISEC (the Inundation Science & Engineering Cooperative) are co-sponsoring a summer workshop that will focus on the interaction between simulation and large-scale testing for understanding nearshore wave dynamics. Participants will also gain a comprehensive overview of the Tsunami Research Facility equipment systems, and their operation and testing capabilities. This is a unique opportunity to

• learn how to expand your experimental capabilities
• learn how to propose and plan an experiment
• learn about tools, instrumentation and capabilities at the site
• observe a NEES research project underway at the facility
• learn how to expand your modeling capabilities
• (for those who wish) participate in a modeling benchmark challenge

In the first part of the workshop, participants will be introduced to the experimental capabilities of the Tsunami Research Facility. This will include presentations/discussions of the design and capabilities of the new piston wavemaker installed in the Large Wave Flume, and new measurement capabilities. Participants will also gain an understanding of how the 3D wavemaker in the Tsunami Wave Basin and the new 2D wavemaker in the Large Wave Flume can be used to test structural specimens and validate analytical and numerical models.

Workshop presentations will cover an overview of the facility, available instrumentation, and support; how to conduct a successful research project and handle data, how to participate remotely, and more. Current and former experimental users of the site will share their experiences with potential new users. As part of the ISEC benchmark problem, participants will visit the facility, see both wavemakers in action, observe the instrumentation and experimental setup from a live NEESR project, observe live tests, and understand the data collection and archive system at the site. This workshop will provide users with the necessary knowledge to assist them in the development of effective NEESR proposals, NEES requirements, experiment design and planning, data handling and archiving.

The second part of the workshop will focus on development and application of numerical models. The developers of COULWAVE, SPHysics, and ADCIRC - three community modeling packages available free of charge from ISEC's Models Repository - will discuss the capabilities of their models and how to use them most effectively.

In the months leading up to the workshop, modelers are challenged to run one of our Nearshore Wave Benchmark Problems. The first involves a simple beach setup, and comes complete with empirical data gathered during large-scale tests at the Tsunami Research Facility last year. The second problem is more challenging in two ways: it includes an island feature and empirical data are not yet available. Large-scale tests will be performed just prior to the workshop, with physical data extracted at points corresponding to the measurement points used by the modelers. Benchmark participants will present overviews of their models and the results, with general discussion about the merits of different approaches.

The workshop and the benchmark challenge are open to all researchers. The cyberinfrastructure of both NEES and ISEC will be used to allow virtual participation by people who can't travel to Corvallis. ISEC's discussion groups will be used to talk about the benchmark problems and parameters in advance, and modelers will submit numerical results through the ISEC website. During the workshop itself, ISEC's virtual meeting capabilities will allow off-site people to participate in discussions, and NEES's telepresence features will allow them to watch the experimental trials in real time.

Following the workshop, ISEC will develop an EOS paper based on the benchmarking problems and including the participants as coauthors.

Interested in doing the benchmark problems? The purpose of the benchmark problems is to examine relatively small scale and local flow dynamics resulting from tsunami evolution over irregular shallow water bathymetry. See the benchmark website.

Interested in attending? Sorry, but registration for physical attendance has filled.

Interested in participating remotely? All you need to participate is a web browser (preferably Firefox or Internet Explorer) and Internet connection. We ask virtual attendees to register just as physical ones do (starting early may). Let us know you're interested and we'll send you an email notification.