Tsunami expert Philip Liu describes how he can forecast gigantic sea waves
Tsunami expert Philip Liu describes how he can forecast gigantic sea waves
2023-11-05
Have you ever wondered what causes those gigantic sea waves known as tsunamis? Today we meet Philip Liu, one of Taiwan’s renowned tsunami experts. Liu is known for his frontline research in the field of water wave theory. He was also instrumental in setting up a pioneering tsunami warning system that’s been used in the U.S. Our very own Stephany Yang takes us to meet Liu, who has ridden a big career wave of his own.
Philip Liu is an academician at Academia Sinica. He has also served as an associate dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University. He is currently a distinguished professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore, and also the university’s vice president for research and technology. His most recent research has focused on nonlinear waves.
Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
In most recent years at Singapore, we have focused on studying nonlinear waves for the deep water and also shallow water. What we have discovered was that some of the theory which has been used for more than 40 to 50 years contains some mistakes, and so we have corrected these mistakes. I think the new results will have long-term impacts in engineering applications. In ocean engineering, especially.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree focusing on civil engineering at National Taiwan University in 1968, Liu studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received a Master of Science degree in civil engineering in 1971 and a doctorate in science in 1974. Liu is a frontline researcher in the fields of tsunami dynamics, water wave theory, wave-breaking processes, sediment transport, and the interaction of waves with structures. He pioneered the development of a unified mathematical model for wave behavior, along with a tsunami monitoring and warning system.
Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
The tsunami model we developed over the years can be used to simulate the tsunami wave propagation from the ocean all the way to the coastal regions so that you can estimate the inundation of the flooding area by the tsunami. And also, this type of model can be used in the tsunami forecasting process to estimate when a tsunami is going to arrive in a certain location and when the tsunami occurs. The model has been actually used by the forecasting system used in the United States for the routine sort of estimation how, when, how much, and how large a tsunami will actually arrive in a certain area.
In the wake of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, his team visited Japan to conduct field research. The research was not only instrumental for Japan but also significant for Taiwan in evaluating safety conditions.
Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
We went to do a survey after the tsunami. A week after tsunami to look at the inundation areas caused by the tsunami and also try to understand the situation with the nuclear power plant. That is important information for us. For Taiwan to evaluate the safety conditions in the nuclear plant in Taiwan.
Over the course of his career, he has received many academic awards. He has trained nearly 30 Ph.D. graduates who are now prominent professors and researchers.
Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
One of my students, Dr. Tso-ren Wu, actually is the one has been using a similar model that we developed and helping Taiwanese governments to assess the tsunami hazards, and also I believe he has used a similar model to look at the safety issues in terms of nuclear power plants on the different locations in Taiwan.
Liu says tsunamis are not only generated by earthquakes but also by landslides. He hopes to conduct further research on landslide-generated tsunamis in the future.
Philip Liu
Tsunami expert
The tsunami can be generated by earthquakes and also by landslides. And also, even volcano eruptions. I think most of the work has been focused on earthquake-generated tsunami but the modeling capabilities for estimating the tsunami generated by landslide is still not very strong or very well done. I think in the future, in the next few years, probably the focus will be on really trying to model the landslide-generated tsunamis because in reality that, in many locations around the world, the landslide can still generate quite a bit of tsunamis.
During a talk at National Taiwan University, Liu encouraged researchers to never stop observing, asking questions, pursuing the truth, and maintaining their enthusiasm for exploring the unknown.
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開發海嘯預警系統 海嘯專家劉立方專訪
2023-11-05
您是否想過是什麼引發海嘯的？今天帶大家來認識台灣著名海嘯專家之一劉立方。劉立方長年致力於近岸波浪的水動力學研究，尤其在海嘯的模擬與理論解析有卓越的成就。他還開創海嘯預警系統，在美國發揮了重要作用。
劉立方是中央研究院院士也曾任康乃爾大學工程學院副院長。他目前是新加坡國立大學特聘教授及副校長。他最近的專注於研究非線性波。
[[海嘯專家 劉立方]]
"近年來在新加坡，我們專注於研究深水和淺水的非線性波。我們發現有些已經使用40到50多年的理論，存在一些錯誤，因此我們修正了這些錯誤。我認為新成果將對工程應用會產生長期影響，尤其是在海洋工程領域。"
1968年畢業於臺大土木系學士班後，就前往美國麻省理工學院(MIT)深造，並於1974年獲得博士學位。劉立方是海嘯專家、海水波動理論、碎波過程、泥沙輸送過程以及波浪與結構物相互作用等領域的研究員。他率先開發了波浪行為的統一數學模型以及海嘯監測和預警系統。
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[[海嘯專家 劉立方]]
"我們多年來開發的海嘯模型可以用來模擬海嘯波，從海洋一直傳播到沿海地區，以便估計海嘯對淹沒地區的淹沒程度。而且，這類的模型可以用於海嘯預報中，估算海嘯何時到達某個地點以及何時發生。美國的預報系統實際上已使用該模型來做常規估計，海嘯將如何、何時、多少以及多大程度地實際到達某個地區。"
福島第一核電廠事故發生後，他的團隊前往日本進行實地研究。這項研究不僅對日本有幫助，對台灣評估安全狀況也具有重要意義。
[[海嘯專家 劉立方]]
"海嘯發生後我們有去調查。海嘯發生一週後，我們前往被海嘯淹沒的地區，並試圖了解核電廠的情況。這對我們來說是重要的資訊，可供我們評估台灣核電廠的安全狀況。"
在他的職業生涯中，他獲得了許多學術獎項。他已培養了近30名博士生。畢業生現在都是著名的教授和研究員。
[[海嘯專家 劉立方]]
"我的學生吳祚任博士使用我們開發的類似模型來幫助台灣政府評估海嘯危害，而且我相信他也使用了類似的模型來評估台灣不同地點的核電站的安全問題。"
劉立方說，海嘯不僅是由地震引起的，也可能是山崩所引起的。他希望將來能夠對山崩引發的海嘯進行更多的研究。
[[海嘯專家 劉立方]]
"海嘯可能是由地震引起的，也可能是山崩，甚至是火山爆發引起。我認為大部分都集中在地震引發的海嘯上，但由於模擬山崩引發海嘯的建模能力還不是很好或很完整。我認為在未來或在接下來的幾年裡，可能會著重在山崩引起的海嘯的模型，因為實際上，在世界各地有許多地方，有發生相當多起山崩引起的海嘯。"
劉立方在台大演講時，勉勵研究者要永不停止觀察、提問、追求真理，保持探求未知的熱情。
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