Oregon Scientists Find New Approach to Studying Waves on Coast

Published 01/28/2011

Devil's Punchbowl, Newport

(Newport, Oregon) – The study of waves on the Oregon coast – or anywhere else for that matter – just got a little easier and perhaps more accurate. Engineers from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon have invented a kind of “stereo vision” to use in studying ocean waves as they pound against the shore, providing a better way to understand and monitor this violent, ever-changing environment.

The approach can observe large areas of ocean waves in real time and help explain what they are doing and why. It uses two video cameras to feed data into an advanced computer system, and may be able to tell scientists much more about climate change and rising sea levels. This will be especially helpful to vulnerable shorelines around the world that are threatened by coastal erosion. The technology should be comparatively simple and inexpensive to implement.

Near Florence

“An ocean wave crashing on shore is actually the end of a long story that usually begins thousands of miles away, formed by wind and storms,” said David Hill, an associate professor of coastal and ocean engineering at Oregon State University. “We’re trying to achieve with cameras and a computer what human eyes and the brain do automatically – see the way that near-shore waves grow, change direction and collapse as they move over a seafloor that changes depth constantly.”

Hill said it is the first time scientists have used stereo optical imaging in a marine field setting on such a large scale. It should offer the potential to provide a constant and scientifically accurate understanding of what is going on in the surf zone. It’s also a form of remote sensing that doesn’t require placement of instruments in the pounding surf environment.

Between Yachats and Florence

The applications for this are many, providing useful data for a wide range of the population around the world, from the shipping industry to telling surfers about oceanic conditions. This method can help analyze wave impacts on the shore, locate objects, help in building structures for the ocean environment, improving boating safety and to help reduce property damage.

Only in recent years, Hill said, have extraordinary advances in computer science made it possible to incorporate and make sense out of what a dynamic marine environment is doing at the moment it happens.

Cannon Beach

“A wave is actually a pretty difficult thing for a computer to see and understand,” Hill said. “Some things like speed are fairly easy to measure, but subtle changes in height, shape and motion as the waves interact with a changing ocean bottom, wind and sediments are much more difficult.”

Researchers from The Netherlands have also made great strides in this field in recent years.

Other studies at OSU have documented that ocean wave heights and coastal erosion in the Pacific Northwest are increasing in recent decades, adding to the need for a better understanding of those waves when they hit shore.

Manzanita

Pacific City

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