research_interests

                     Meteotsunamis in the Laurentian Great Lakes
          Characterization, Forecast, and Warning

Meteotsunamis can pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes coast, owing to the lake’s characteristics that facilitate the formation of destructive meteotsunamis including frequent fast-moving storm fronts, resonance-promoting bathymetry, and harbors to finally amplify the wave. The most vivid historical meteotsunami on record in the Lake Michigan occurred in 1954, when a squall line-induced wave struck Chicago in Lake Michigan. The coast was inundated up to 50 meters inland and unexpectedly swept many fishermen off of the Montrose Harbor piers, killing seven. While the threat of meteotsunamis in Lake Michigan has been recognized, to date no infrastructure for detecting and warning of a pending meteotsunami disaster is available. Recently the potential hot spots in Lake Michigan that can be threatened by meteotsunamis has been identified and characterized. Meteotsunamis have also observed in Lake Superior and Lake Erie. In collaboration researchers in Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we are implementing an observation network system to better understand the occurrence of meterotsunamis. An operational meteotsunami forecasting and warning system is also being developed to keep residents safe and avoid dangerous events. Further efforts on meteotsunami research, education, outreach can be found in the following links:

CIGLR 2017 Summit: Meteotsunami Forecasting and Warning System for the Laurentian Great Lakes: New Paradigm for Big Data Challenges and Analytics

Media

Publications:

Lin, L.C., Liu, W.C., Wu, C.H., 2024, Meteotsunamis in the Tamsui River estuary, Taiwan. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 108704, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2024.108704.
Lin, L.C., Liu, W.C., Wu, C.H., 2024, A 16-year meteotsunami climatology in the coastal areas of southern Asia-Pacific Ocean, Frontiers of Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1333843
Lin, L.C. and Wu, C.H., 2021, Unexpected meteotsunamis prior to Typhoon Wipha and Typhoon Neoguri,Natural Hazards, 106:1673–1686, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04313-0
Linares, A., Wu, C.H., Bechle, A.J., Anderson, J.A., and Kristovich, D.A, Unexpected rip currents induced by a meteotsunami, Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/s41598-019-38716-2, 2019.
Linares, A., Wu, C.H., Anderson, J.A., Chu, P.Y., Role of meteorologically-induced water level oscillations on bottom shear stress in freshwater estuaries in the Great Lakes. J. Geophysical Research-Oceans, In Press, doi:10.1029/2017JC013741, 2018.
Bechle, A.J., Wu, C.H., David A.R. Kristovich, D.A., Anderson, E.J., Schwab, D.J., Rabinovich, A.B., 2016. Meteotsunamis in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Scientific Reports, 6, 37832, doi:10.1038/srep37832.
Linares, A., Bechle, A.J., and Wu,C.H., 2016, Characterization and Assessment of the meteotsunami hazard in northern Lake Michigan, Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 121(9), 7141–7158.
Bechle, A.J., Kristovich, D.A, and Wu, C.H., 2015. Meteotsunami Occurrences and Causes in Lake Michigan, Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 120 (12),8422–8438.
Anderson, E.J., Bechle, A.J., Wu, C.H., Schwab, D.J., Mann, G. and Lombardy, K. 2015. Reconstruction of a meteotsunami in Lake Erie on May 27, 2012: Role of atmospheric conditions on hydrodynamic response in enclosed basins, Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans,120(12), 8020–8038.
Bechle, A.J. and Wu, C.H., 2014. The Lake Michigan meteotsunamis of 1954 Revisited. Natural Hazards, 74(1), 155-177.

Projects:

Meteotsunami Climate Projection