Adam J. Bechle

Development and Application of an Automated River-Estuary Discharge Imaging System

AbstractAn automated river-estuary discharge imaging system (AREDIS) is developed to measure the velocity of a wide tidal estuary. The system contains near- and far-field cameras that capture the entire 370-m-wide channel from an oblique angle with high image resolution. A new rotational scheme is developed to calibrate the cameras. Wakes generated by flow past bridge piers are found to be natural tracers for large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) to reliably and accurately measure the surface velocity, confirmed by buoy tracking velocimetry (BTV). The success of AREDIS is demonstrated in three field measurements on the Danshui River, the largest estuary in Taiwan. First, AREDIS is used to measure discharge over the entire tidal cycle under normal flow, and a 10% difference is found between discharges measured with AREDIS and a boat-mounted acoustic Doppler profiler. Second, AREDIS is employed to measure discharge under a typhoon event, resulting in discharges 45% greater than those at normal flow...

Reconstruction of a meteotsunami in Lake Erie on 27 May 2012: Roles of atmospheric conditions on hydrodynamic response in enclosed basins

On 27 May 2012, atmospheric conditions gave rise to two convective systems that generated a series of waves in the meteotsunami band on Lake Erie. The resulting waves swept three swimmers a 0.5 mi offshore, inundated a marina, and may have led to a capsized boat along the southern shoreline. Analysis of radial velocities from a nearby radar tower in combination with coastal meteorological observation indicates that the convective systems produced a series of outflow bands that were the likely atmospheric cause of the meteotsunami. In order to explain the processes that led to meteotsunami generation, we model the hydrodynamic response to three meteorological forcing scenarios: (i) the reconstructed atmospheric disturbance from radar analysis, (ii) simulated conditions from a high-resolution weather model, and (iii) interpolated meteorological conditions from the NOAA Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System. The results reveal that the convective systems generated a series of waves incident to the southern shore of the lake that reflected toward the northern shoreline and reflected again to the southern shore, resulting in spatial wave focusing and edge wave formation that combined to impact recreational users near Cleveland, OH. This study illustrates the effects of meteotsunami development in an enclosed basin, including wave reflection, focusing, and edge wave formation as well as temporal lags between the causative atmospheric conditions and arrival of dangerous wave conditions. As a result, the ability to detect these extreme storms and predict the hydrodynamic response is crucial to reducing risk and building resilient coastal communities.

Observations of surface waves interacting with ice using stereo imaging

A powerful Automated Trinocular Stereo Imaging System (ATSIS) is used to remotely measure waves interacting with three distinct ice types: brash, frazil, and pancake. ATSIS is improved with a phase-only correlation matching algorithm and parallel computation to provide high spatial and temporal resolution 3-D profiles of the water/ice surface, from which the wavelength, frequency, and energy flux are calculated. Alongshore spatial frequency distributions show that pancake and frazil ices differentially attenuate at a greater rate for higher-frequency waves, causing a decrease in mean frequency. In contrast, wave propagation through brash ice causes a rapid increase in the dominant wave frequency, which may be caused by nonlinear energy transfer to higher frequencies due to collisions between the brash ice particles. Consistent to the results in frequency, the wavelengths in pancake and frazil ices increase but decrease in brash ice. The total wave energy fluxes decrease exponentially in both pancake and frazil ice, whereas the overall energy flux remain constant in the brash ice due to thin layer thickness. The spatial energy flux distributions also reveal that wave reflection occurs at the boundary of each ice layer, with reflection coefficient decaying exponentially away from the ice interface. Reflection is the strongest at the pancake/ice-free and frazil/brash interfaces and the weakest at the brash/ice-free interface. These high resolution observations measured by ATSIS demonstrate the spatially variable nature of waves propagating through ice.

An entropy-based surface velocity method for estuarine discharge measurement

An entropy-based method is developed to estimate estuarine river discharge from surface velocity measurements. A two-dimensional velocity profile based on the principle of maximum entropy is employed to express the mean velocity as a function of average surface velocity. The entropy-based flow profile is parameterized by the location of maximum velocity in the channel and the shape of the velocity distribution. The entropy parameters are quantified over the tidal cycle to account for the unsteady nature of estuarine flow. The method was tested using experiments conducted at the Danshui River, the largest estuarine system in Taiwan. Surface velocities were measured using an Automated River-Estuary Discharge Imaging System (AREDIS), and full-channel velocity profiles were measured with a moving-boat ADP survey. Entropy parameters were calibrated over the tidal cycle and linearly correlated with the average surface velocity to facilitate estimation from AREDIS measurements. The discharge calculated from average surface velocity and entropy relationships exhibits a 7.7% relative error compared to the ADP velocity profiles. The error nearly doubles when the mean values for entropy parameters are used instead of the variable parameters, indicating the importance of accounting for the unsteady nature of estuarine flows. Furthermore, the effects of measurement coverage area, types of entropy distribution, and wind-induced drift current on the surface velocity-based discharge measurement are evaluated and discussed. Overall, surface velocity measurements in conjunction with the entropy profiles well represent the flow in a complex estuarine environment to provide a reliable estimate of discharge.

Meteotsunami occurrences and causes in Lake Michigan

The occurrence of meteotsunamis in Lake Michigan is quantified at 10 locations from up to 20 years of historical water level records. Meteotsunami height data are fit with Pareto Type 1 and Generalized Pareto Distributions to estimate exceedance probabilities. The annual meteotsunami return level exceeds 0.25 m at all but two stations, with the largest annual return level of 0.62 m at Calumet Harbor. Analysis of radar imagery indicates that Lake Michigan meteotsunamis are associated primarily with convective storm structures, with a considerable contribution from frontal storms as well. Meteotsunami association with convective storm structures is more prevalent in southern Lake Michigan while frontal storm structures have a greater association with meteotsunamis in northern Lake Michigan. Water depths in southern Lake Michigan are conducive to Proudman resonance with convective storms while the northern Lake Michigan is too deep to meet Proudman resonance criteria, suggesting Greenspan edge wave resonance as the likely generation mechanism. Interestingly, meteotsunami events occur primarily in the late spring and early summer, approximately 1 month before the peak convective storm season but after the peak cyclone season. Overall, this statistical analysis provides valuable insight into the spatial and temporal trends in meteotsunami occurrence in Lake Michigan needed to estimate the risk posed by these dangerous coastal hazards.

Meteotsunamis in the laurentian great lakes

The generation mechanism of meteotsunamis, which are meteorologically induced water waves with spatial/temporal characteristics and behavior similar to seismic tsunamis, is poorly understood. We quantify meteotsunamis in terms of seasonality, causes, and occurrence frequency through the analysis of long-term water level records in the Laurentian Great Lakes. The majority of the observed meteotsunamis happen from late-spring to mid-summer and are associated primarily with convective storms. Meteotsunami events of potentially dangerous magnitude (height > 0.3 m) occur an average of 106 times per year throughout the region. These results reveal that meteotsunamis are much more frequent than follow from historic anecdotal reports. Future climate scenarios over the United States show a likely increase in the number of days favorable to severe convective storm formation over the Great Lakes, particularly in the spring season. This would suggest that the convectively associated meteotsunamis in these regions may experience an increase in occurrence frequency or a temporal shift in occurrence to earlier in the warm season. To date, meteotsunamis in the area of the Great Lakes have been an overlooked hazard.

Characterization and Assessment of the meteotsunami hazard in northern Lake Michigan

The meteotsunami hazard is assessed in northern Lake Michigan from both short-term and long-term records of water level, wind speed, and air pressure. Cross-wavelet analysis reveals that meteotsunamis can be caused by atmospheric disturbances that are pressure dominated, wind dominated, or both pressure and wind forced. In total, air pressure and wind stress are found to contribute similarly to meteotsunami initiation in northern Lake Michigan. The pressure-driven meteotsunamis tend to be associated with convective storms, whereas meteotsunamis that are mainly wind-driven are associated more with cyclonic-type storms. The atmospheric disturbances responsible for largest meteotsunamis in northern Lake Michigan are found to have a propagation speed close to 32 m/s and from the south to north direction. A heuristic approach is developed to estimate the maximum meteotsunami height from the atmospheric disturbance strength and velocity. Overall, the heuristic approach is shown to be an effective methodology to assess the meteotsunami hazard over a wide range of potential atmospheric disturbance conditions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

What Do We Not Know About Freaque Waves in the Ocean and Lakes and Where to Go From Here

In this paper we point out the lesser known or under-explored aspects of freaque waves. The modern study of freaque waves has been an active research field over the last two decades or so. There have been significant advancements especially in connection with the study of nonlinear physics. We have explored what we DO know, in this paper, we would like to explore what we DO NOT know?Copyright