Mitigation of Tsunami inundation by coastal vegetation

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster in 2004, the protection offered by coastal vegetation has become evident in many countries affected and the role of vegetation as a possible tsunami impact mitigation measure has been identified. A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of vegetation in mitigating tsunami inundation in which small scale physical model tests were carried out to investigate the influence of various characteristics of the vegetation in reducing the extent of inundation. Significant reduction levels of inundation were observed in the testing program and the relative influences of the location, density, extent and pattern of vegetation were identified.