A mathematical formulation for estimating maximum run-up height of 2018 Palu tsunami

Abstract

Abstract. Run-up is defined as sea wave up-rush on a beach. Run-up height is affected by many factors, including the shape of the bay. As an archipelagic country, Indonesia consists of thousands of islands with bays of diverse profiles, including Palu Bay, which is a well-known example of a bay with a drastically-increasing wave run-up height. In the case of the 2018 Palu tsunami, scientists found that the incident wave was amplified by the shape of the bay. The amplifying wave played a large role in the significant increase of run-up height. The run-up in question caused severe inundation, which led to a high number of casualties and damages. Therefore a mathematical model will be constructed to investigate the wave run-up. The bay's geometry will be approximated using three linearly-inclined channel types: one of parabolic cross-section, one of triangular cross-section, and a plane beach. We use the generalized nonlinear shallow water equations, which is then solved analytically using a hodograph-type transformation. As a result, the nonlinear shallow water equation system can be reduced to a one-dimensional linear equation system. Assuming the incident wave is sinusoidal, we can obtain a simple formula for calculating maximum run-up height on the shoreline.