Use of Boussinesq versus shallow water equations in tsunami calculations

Abstract

The Boussinesq equations are supposed to be superior to the shallow water equations for use in the computations of tsunami travel, because they contain additional terms to account for dispersion. However, it is shown here that in real situations, the superiority of the Boussinesq system is not always apparent.

Keywords:

• Boussinesq
• shallow water
• tsunami
• Alaska earthquake
• Yakutat