Coastal Engineering Journal

ISSN: 2166-4250 (Print) 1793-6292 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tcej20

Tsunami mitigation by combination of coastal

vegetation and a backward-facing step

Ghufran Ahmed Pasha, Norio Tanaka, Junji Yagisawa & Fuadi Noor Achmad

To cite this article: Ghufran Ahmed Pasha, Norio Tanaka, Junji Yagisawa & Fuadi Noor Achmad
(2018): Tsunami mitigation by combination of coastal vegetation and a backward-facing step,
Coastal Engineering Journal, DOI: 10.1080/21664250.2018.1437014

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21664250.2018.1437014

Published online: 27 Feb 2018.

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COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/21664250.2018.1437014

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Tsunami mitigation by combination of coastal vegetation and a

backward-facing step
Ghufran Ahmed Pashaa,b, Norio Tanakaa,c, Junji Yagisawaa,c and Fuadi Noor Achmada
a
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan; bDepartment of Civil Engineering, University of
Engineering and Technology, Taxila, Pakistan; cInternational Institute for Resilient Society, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Since the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami, many improvements have been made in both hard Received 13 December 2017
and soft solutions for tsunami mitigation. After the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami, a post- Accepted 15 January 2018
tsunami survey was conducted along the coast in Miyagi Prefecture, which was one of the KEYWORDS
most tsunami-affected sites because rapid acceleration of the tsunami currents broke and Tsunami disaster mitigation;
washed away the trees, resulting in extensive damage to inland houses. In contrast, some of coastal vegetation; dropping
the houses located inland and away from vegetation with a dropping step survived. This step; backwater rise; energy
shows a possibility that a step combined with the vegetation offers greater tsunami energy reduction
reduction by providing additional resistance. Laboratory experiments were conducted to
investigate the energy reduction through a compound defense system (vegetation and a
backward-facing step). Vegetation with a step (VS) showed greater energy reduction com-
pared to that of only vegetation without a step (OV) due to additional loss by collision with
the bed surface. However, the relative energy reduction in OV remained almost constant with
the increase in the initial Froude number (F0, where the Froude number is obtained from a
model without vegetation in a flume), whereas the relative energy reduction in VS showed a
decreasing trend with increasing F0 because the energy reduction due to collision decreases
with increase in water depth or F0.

1. Introduction capacity of the artificial structure. Presently, from both

economic and environmental points of view, natural
The 2011 Great East Japan tsunami opened new chal-
methods are considered effective to mitigate tsunami
lenges for researchers to find better ways to prevent
damage. Based on previous research (Shuto, 1987;
tsunami disasters across the globe. Despite the best-
Tanaka et al. 2007), the roles of coastal vegetation in
known tsunami mitigation measures, the 2011 tsunami
tsunami mitigation include trapping, and providing a
had a devastating nationwide impact in Japan (Mori
soft-landing place, an escape route and energy dissipa-
and Takahashi 2012; Ishigaki et al. 2013). Post-tsunami
tion. Many previous studies documented the effective-
surveys showed that the major damage occurred in the
ness of coastal vegetation in mitigation of tsunamis in
Tohoku and Kanto districts of Japan (Suppasri et al.
post-disaster surveys after the 1998 Papua New Guinea
2012; Mikami et al. 2012), where the tsunami destroyed
tsunami (Dengler and Preuss 2003), 2004 Indian Ocean
parts of sea walls (tsunami gates, large embankments)
tsunami (Danielsen et al. 2005; Mascarenhas and
(Tappin et al. 2012; Suppasri et al. 2012) and coastal
Jayakumar, 2008; Tanaka et al. 2007), and 2011 Great
forests (Tanaka, Yagisawa, and Yasuda 2013) and
East Japan tsunami (Nandasena, Sasaki, and Tanaka,
caused catastrophic damage to buildings and people
2012; Tanaka et al. 2014). In fact, field plantation has
(Fraser et al. 2013; Ishigaki et al. 2013).
also been done along the coast of southern Asian
For tsunami mitigation, both artificial methods (hard
countries as a bioshield against a tsunami (Tanaka,
solutions: construction of sea walls and embankments,
2009; Tanaka et al. 2011).
installment of tsunami gates, and erection of break-
Attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of a coastal
water structures) and natural methods (soft solutions:
forest were also conducted in laboratory experiments
coastal vegetation, sand dunes, and coral reefs) can be
(Harada and Imamura, 2001; Iimura and Tanaka, 2012;
implemented (Tanaka 2009). However, artificial meth-
Pasha and Tanaka, 2016c, 2017), and numerical simu-
ods could prove to be costly for developing countries
lations were made by changing the tsunami and for-
because they require enormous capital investment
est characteristics (Hiraishi and Harada, 2003; Harada
(Tanaka 2009) and have greater chances of failure if a
and Imamura, 2005; Nandasena, Tanaka, and
large tsunami arrives that exceeds the designed

CONTACT Norio Tanaka tanaka01@mail.saitama-u.ac.jp

© 2018 Japan Society of Civil Engineers.

2 G. A. PASHA ET AL.
Tanimoto, 2008; Iimura and Tanaka 2013). The effec-
tiveness of coastal forests against tsunamis has also
been investigated by Kathiresan and Rajendran
(2005), Irtem et al. (2009), Yanagisawa et al. (2009),
and Nateghi et al. (2016). On the other hand, limita-
tions of the tsunami mitigation capacity of a coastal
forest were also discussed in terms of destruction of
the coastal forest itself (Tanaka et al. 2007), produc-
tion of driftwood (Dengler and Preuss, 2003; Cochard
et al. 2008), deficiencies in coastal forests such as
open gaps (Mascarenhas and Jayakumar, 2008; Thuy
et al. 2009; Nandasena, Sasaki, and Tanaka 2012), the
breaking moment of the trees (Tanaka, Yagisawa, and
Yasuda 2013), and the magnitude of the tsunami
(Tanaka 2009). In the 2011 Japan tsunami, although
the coastal forest was destroyed, its role as a bioshield
was not negligible compared to that of a sea embank-
ment in the mitigation of fluid force (Tanaka et al.
2014) and in protecting houses by trapping floating
debris (Tanaka 2012; Pasha and Tanaka, 2016a, 2016b;
Tanaka and Onai 2017; Tanaka and Ogino 2017).
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism of Japan, the mitigation
method of a “line defense” has been changed to
“compound defenses” for a level 2 tsunami (the return
period of which is within hundreds to a thousand
years). It was also observed after the 2011 Great East
Japan tsunami that the coastal forests without
embankments suffered greater damage because they
had received the tsunami fluid force directly (Tanaka,
Yagisawa, and Yasuda 2013), and forests in front of
steep slopes received a large fluid force due to reflec-
tion from steep hills in the 2010 Mentawai tsunami
(Huang et al. 2013). In contrast, a compound defense
arrangement with a coastal forest and an embank-
ment helped to reduce energy more than a forest-
only arrangement (Igarashi and Tanaka 2016) and was
ecologically beneficial as well. On the other hand, a
coastal forest behind an embankment also had the
disadvantage of producing a large amount of drift-
wood due to erosion of the substrate, which
destroyed much vegetation (Tappin et al. 2012;
Tanaka and Onai, 2017). Moreover, a coastal forest
behind an embankment cannot be expected to
decrease the overtopping flow from the embank-
ment. Thus, there is scope for further research on
optimizing a compound defense system. Kanai and
Tanaka (2016) revealed that the damage to houses
behind a coastal forest that was followed by a sudden
drop or step was less than that behind a forest with-
out a step. Niimi et al. (2013) studied the effects of the
Teizan Canal on tsunami mitigation numerically and
revealed time delays in the tsunami run-up and a
decrease of inundation depth. In addition, canals can
help to reduce the tsunami wave velocity and energy
(Rahman et al. 2016, 2017). Thus, it is very important
to combine a coastal forest with a dropping step and
design an effective combination to mitigate the
damage to residential areas by the next large tsunami
that overtops the sea embankment.
Recently, Pasha and Tanaka (2016c, 2017) con-
ducted laboratory experiments to clarify the energy
reduction through vegetation mounted on a uniform
bed and confirmed an increase in energy reduction
with increasing vegetation density. The objective of
the current study was to clarify the effectiveness of a
compound defense system composed of vegetation
and a backward-facing step. To fulfill these objectives,
a post-tsunami field investigation survey was con-
ducted along the coastal zone of Miyagi Prefecture,
Japan. Flume experiments were also performed to
investigate the flow structure and the amount of
energy lost through emergent vegetation of variable
thickness and changing density, mounted over a step
of constant height against different flow conditions.
On the basis of field survey and experiment results, a
tsunami mitigation plan for areas near port is also
proposed. This study will help to design multiple
protective measures for tsunami mitigation in the
future.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Post-tsunami field survey
2.1.1. Information on investigated sites
Large structures (houses and buildings) and sudden
drops in elevation dissipate considerable amounts of
tsunami energy. This was confirmed by the post-tsu-
nami field survey carried out in April and May 2011
along the tsunami-affected coast in Miyagi Prefecture
after the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami. Figure 1(a)
shows representative site locations of the field inves-
tigation covering an area of 22 sq. km marked by 15
lines, as shown in Figure 1(b). Both conditions, i.e.
before and after the tsunami, are shown in Figure 1
(b). The representative vegetation comprised mainly
Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) and Japanese
black pine (Pinus thunbergii). These species have
been used in the development of coastal forests in
Japan to suppress sand movement and mitigate
strong winds for many decades. Table 1 shows details
of the investigation sites including characteristics of
the vegetation and houses. The locations of damaged
houses relative to the coastline, embankment, coastal
vegetation, canal, and a step are shown in Figure 2(a).
2.1.2. Measurement method
To analyze the effects of a coastal forest and a back-
ward-facing step, the tsunami water depth and
damage to the sea embankment or sea wall, trees,
and houses were investigated during a field survey.
The vegetation characteristics were measured near
the coast (sea side) and also away from the coast
 COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 3

Figure 1. Details of field investigation sites: (a) location of investigation sites and (b) plan view of investigated sites before and
after the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami (images taken from Google Earth): (i) Ishinomaki City (lines 1–2), (ii, iii) Sendai City (lines
3–8), (iv) Iwanuma City (lines 9–10), (v) Watari Town (line 11), (vi) Yamanoto Town (lines 12–14), and (vii) Souma City (line 15).

(land side). The tsunami water depth at each site was
determined by the evidence of collisions, e.g. the
height of scars made by debris on the tree trunks or
by broken branches and water marks on the walls of
damaged houses, marks on broken roofs, or debris
located on roofs. At each site, the tree-trunk diameter
at breast height (m), vegetation width on both sea
side and land side, vegetation density (trees/m2),
number of houses in each line (remaining and washed
out), average width of houses, and step height were
determined. Table 1 includes all the information mea-
sured at the site.
Figure 2(b) shows the conditions in the area after the
2011 Great East Japan tsunami. High acceleration of
tsunami currents destroyed various parts of the sea
embankment, trees, and houses at many locations.
During the field investigation, it was observed that
some trees remained standing at various sites of survey
lines that included a step down, e.g. Lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8,
and 15. However, just at the landward side of the step,
4 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

Table 1. Vegetation and house characteristics of investigated sites.

Tree
diameter at
breast Vegetation Number of
height dBH width W Density nv houses
(m) (m) (Nos./m2) nH (Nos./line)
Breaking situation of Average
Investigated sea embankment after Sea Land Sea Land Sea Land Before After width of Step height
line Location tsunami side side side side side side tsunami tsunami houses dH (m) (m)
Line 1 Ishinomaki City N – 0.25 – 5 – 0.10 98 63 9.5 1.8
Line 2 Ishinomaki City N – 0.25 – 20 – 0.10 93 51 11.1 1.8
Line 3 Sendai City W 0.12 0.29 140 65 0.24 0.24 1 1 11.3 1.8
Line 4 Sendai City W 0.12 0.29 300 100 0.29 0.24 41 27 11.5 1.5
Line 5 Sendai City W 0.15 0.26 270 335 0.17 0.2 27 21 12.3 1.5
Line 6 Sendai City NW 0.15 – 20 – 0.2 – 107 11 11 None
Line 7 Sendai City NW 0.15 0.36 220 165 0.2 0.2 57 19 9.8 2.8
Line 8 Sendai City NW 0.15 0.36 270 400 0.2 0.2 2 2 11.6 1.8
Line 9 Iwanuma City NW 0.2 – 50 – 0.21 – 2 2 10.4 None
Line 10 Iwanuma City NW 0.2 – 50 – 0.27 – 24 13 11.6 None
Line 11 Watari Town W 0.16 – 200 – 0.32 – 41 18 11.7 None
Line 12 Yamamoto NW 0.22 – 70 – 0.2 – 8 5 11 None
Town
Line 13 Yamamoto W 0.24 – 20 – 0.21 – 26 5 10.9 None
Town
Line 14 Yamamoto W 0.26 – 120 – 0.23 – 18 5 8.6 None
Town
Line 15 Souma City N 0.26 – 120 – 0.23 – 34 17 9.8 1.5
N: No embankment; NW: embankment was not broken; W: embankment was washed out.

enormous scouring was also observed, which resulted in V2

the washing out of houses and formation of scour holes
(Figure 2(b)). The arrow represents the direction of flow in
Figure 2(b). The depth of scour was not included in
determining the step height, and the step height was
calculated with reference to ground level. However, the
depth of scour holes also contributed to the energy loss
due to generation of eddies and mixing of flow because
increasing the energy head also increases the scour
depth and length (Tanaka and Sato 2015).
The area near Souma Port before the earthquake
(left) and the damage after the earthquake and tsunami
(right) are shown in Figure 3(a). Figure 3(a) shows clear
damage to houses located inland, which was due to the
combined effect of tsunami currents and floating debris
(driftwood produced from coastal vegetation, trucks lost
from the port area, rubble of destroyed structures).
However, a vegetation belt (20–50 m wide) that fol-
lowed a sudden backward-facing step/drop of 1.5 m
just landward of vegetation (Figure 3(b)) remained
intact and trapped tsunami-borne debris. A few of the
houses located inland and away from vegetation with a
step upward survived, which is also confirmed by
Figure 3(c). Thus, there is a possibility of a greater energy
reduction due to the added resistance to the tsunami
flow offered by a step in combination with vegetation
itself, resulting in survival of houses to some extent.
2.2. Parameters used in this study
2.2.1. Energy head
The energy head is defined as the energy per volume
of water at any section measured with respect to the
datum line (Chow 1959):
E ¼ hw þ α (1)
2g
where E is specific energy, hw is height above the
datum, V is velocity, and α is a coefficient to account
for variations in velocity, which was considered to be
1 in this study.
2.2.1.1. Field investigation to estimate sea side
velocity head. Figure 3(b) shows different para-
meters measured during the field investigation. The
location of the calculated energy head is shown in
Figure 2(a). The moment acting on a tree trunk at
ground height as proposed by Tanaka, Yagisawa,
and Yasuda (2013) (Equation (2)) and the critical bend-
ing moment of trees as proposed by Gardiner, Peltola,
and Kellomäki (2000) (Equation (3)) were used to
judge tree-trunk bending. These are shown below.
h1 1 h1
M¼F ¼ Cdv ρw V1 2 h1 dBH 
2 2 2
1 3 dBH
¼ Cdv ρw Fr gh1
2
(2)
2 2
σMax I
Mbcri ¼ ffi kD3BH (3)
R
where F is the drag force, Cdv is the drag coefficient
of a tree, ρw is the density of sea water (1030 kg/m3),
V1 is the velocity over the step (m/s), h1 is the water
depth at the coast line (sea side) on the step of
height hs (m) (Figure 3(b)), dBH and DBH (=100 dBH)
are tree-trunk diameters at breast height in meters
and centimeters, respectively, k is a dimensional con-
stant [=2 for hard trunks and 3 for elastic trees
(Tanaka and Yagisawa 2009)], Fr (=V1/(gh1)0.5) is the
Froude number of the step, g is the gravitational
constant (m/s2), R (m) is the radius of the breaking
 COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 5

Figure 2. (a) Location of damaged houses relative to the coastline, embankment, coastal vegetation, canal, and a step, and (b)
representative sites of lines having a backward-facing step showing standing trees over the step and scouring conditions just
landward of the step.

section of a tree trunk, σMax is the critical bending
stress of the outer fiber of trees (N/m2), and I is the
second moment of area (m4), which is a function of
R4. If σMax is assumed to be constant, the breaking
conditions become a function of R3, thus the func-
tion of d3.
When M was larger than Mbcri, the tree was judged
to be bent, dBH became dBH-cri, and the drag coeffi-
cient (Cdv) was changed from 1.0 to 0.2 considering
the drag coefficient of a cylinder inclined in the flow
direction (Poulin and Larsen 2007; Thuy, Tanaka, and
Tanimoto 2012). Combining Equations 2 and 3,
6 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

Figure 3. Study site condition: (a) area near Suma Port before and after the 2011 Great East Japan tsunami (images taken from
Google Earth), (b) arrangement of vegetation with a backward facing step, and (c) survival of some houses located away from
vegetation with a step.

1 dBHcri the sea side in Equation (1) in a unit width was

cdv pw Fr2 gh31 ¼ ¼ 100kdBHcri
3
(4)
2 2 estimated from Equation (6).

ρ g 12 3
dBHcri ¼ w
Cdv Fr2 h1 2 (5) V1c 2 Fr2
400k ¼ h1 (6)
2g 2
where dBH-cri is defined as the tree diameter at breast where V1c is the critical velocity at tree-trunk bending
height when the tree was judged to be bent, which over the step (m/s).
was determined by a field investigation, and h1, which
was also measured during a field survey. From
Equation (5), CdvFr2 was found as discussed by 2.2.1.2. Field investigation to estimate land-side
Tanaka, Yagisawa, and Yasuda (2013) by using dBH-cri velocity head. According to FEMA (2008), a structural
and h1. Finally, the Fr was determined against Cd = 1 failure by overturning is mostly due to hydrodynamic
when there was no attached debris (Tanaka, forces of the incoming or returning flow. However, in
Yagisawa, and Yasuda 2013). The velocity head at the 2011 Japan tsunami, failure of wooden houses due

to displacement of the entire house was also wide-
spread. The uplift loading is mainly applied to the
underside of floor systems and is blamed for the col-
lapse of elevated floor levels in structures like parking
garages, although most failures of this type did not
result in collapse of the entire structure (FEMA 2008).
Many previous studies had developed fragility
curves for washout of buildings as a function of
water depth and had concluded that the damage
varies according to the tsunami conditions and the
strength of buildings (Reese et al. 2011; Leone et al.
2011; Suppasri et al. 2012). However, Takahashi,
Nakagawa, and Kanou (1985) estimated the critical
value of the moment index (u2h2, where u is depth-
averaged velocity and h is water depth) for washing
out houses to be around 76 m4/s2 according to a real-
scale experiment. Hatori (1984) demonstrated the cri-
tical value of the fluid force index (u2h) to be between
15 and 100 m3/s2 in order to cause one-third to
complete destruction of houses in three previous
Japanese tsunamis. To determine the necessary con-
ditions for breakage or washing out of houses, Tanaka
et al. (2014) utilized the experience of Hatori (1984)
and Takahashi, Nakagawa, and Kanou (1985) of fluid
force index (u2h) and moment index (u2h2), respec-
tively. Nandasena, Paris, and Tanaka (2011) assumed a
boulder to be a rectangular prism and used the
moment principle to calculate the minimum flow
velocity necessary to initiate boulder transport by a
tsunami. The fluid force index and the moment index
depend on the Froude value. When a tsunami travels
inland, the range of Froude number is between 0.7
and 1 (Spiske et al. 2010). For the Great East Japan
tsunami, Tanaka, Yagisawa, and Yasuda (2013) esti-
mated the Froude number to be 0.9–0.6 at
500–550 m distance from the shoreline, and a simula-
tion by Tanaka et al. (2014) also estimated the Froude
number to decrease from 1.6 near the shoreline to 0.6
around 550 m from the shoreline in the Sendai Plain.
Tanaka et al. (2014) showed the relationship between
Froude number and critical water depth for washing
out houses to be based on fluid force index and
moment index. The study expressed that for flows
with a Froude number less than 0.8, the moment
index is more suitable than the fluid force index to
evaluate the washout condition of houses in an inland
region. Beyond Froude number = 0.8, the difference
between critical depths calculated by fluid force index
and moment index was very much less (Tanaka et al.
2014). In the present study, as shown in Figure 2(a),
the calculated location of the land-side energy head
for most of the lines ranged between 600 and 2000 m
from the coastline; therefore, the range of Froude
number is assumed to be less than 1. Thus, the
moment index is more suitable than the fluid force
index to evaluate the washout condition of houses.
The moment acting on a house due to the drag force
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 7
at ground height (Equation (7)) and the critical bend-
ing moment of washout of houses due to fluid force
(Equation (8)) as calculated by Tanaka et al. (2014) and
Tanaka and Onai (in press) are
h2 1 h2
M¼F ¼ ρw CdH V2 2 h2 dH
2 2 2
1
¼ ρw CdH V2 2 h22 dH (7)
4
1 h2 2
Mc ¼ ρw CdH V2 2c dH (8)
2 2
where F is the drag force, h2 is the water depth in
front of surviving houses (m), ρw is the density of sea
water (1030 kg/m3), CdH is the average drag coeffi-
cient of houses [2.13 for a house (Takahashi,
Nakagawa, and Kanou 1985)], V2 is the velocity in
front of the house (m/s), dH is the average width of
a house (m), and V2c is the critical velocity at wash out
of a house (Figure 3(b)). From Equation (8), the critical
velocity of houses washed out by fluid force can be
written as
 1=2
4Mc
V2c ¼ (9)
CdH ρw dH h2 2
On the land side of the field investigation, the velocity
head in Equation (1) per unit width was estimated by
the following equation:
 
V2c 2 1 4Mc
¼ (10)
2g 2g CdH ρw dH h2 2
where Mc is the critical moment for a house to be
washed out. Takahashi, Nakagawa, and Kanou (1985)
reported the critical value of the moment for washing
out a house (=418,730 N m) according to a real scale
experiment. This value was 11% greater than the Mc
value obtained by the fragility curve with a trapping
effect developed by Tanaka and Onai (2016). The
washout rate of houses observed by Tanaka et al.
(2014) was around half of that of Takahashi,
Nakagawa, and Kanou (1985) because Tanaka et al.
(2014) did not consider the impact force and debris
collision force which are assumed to occur in an
actual tsunami. Thus, the critical value of the moment
for washing out a house as reported by Takahashi,
Nakagawa, and Kanou (1985) was used in this study.
Using the critical velocity V2c obtained from
Equation (10) and water depth h2, the values of fluid
force and moment indexes were calculated. The prob-
ability of damage of houses based on the moment
index was around 80% of the fragility curve devel-
oped by Tanaka, Onai, and Kondo (2015) and Tanaka
and Onai (2016), while it was around 60–70% based
on fluid force index (Tanaka, Onai, and Kondo 2015).
Thus, in this study, the moment index to calculate the
failure mode of houses was used.
8 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

2.2.1.3. Experimental velocity head. To find the
experimental loss of the energy head, the velocity
head in Equation (1) in a unit width was estimated
by Equation (11).
 2 
V3 2 1 Q
¼ (11)
2g 2g b2 y2
where V3 (m/s) is the mean velocity calculated from
the experimental data against the known discharge
(Q), measured water depth (y), and channel width (b).
The water level was measured at the center of the
channel and throughout the length of the channel
with an increment of 2–5 cm depending upon fluc-
tuations of the water surface (Figure 4).
where Cdv is the drag coefficient of a tree [0.2 for a
bending tree (Thuy, Tanaka, and Tanimoto 2012)], dBH
is the diameter of a tree at breast height in meters
(m), nv is the density of trees (number/m2), CdH is the
drag coefficient of house [2.13 for a house (Takahashi,
Nakagawa, and Kanou 1985)], dH is the average width
of houses in a single line (m), and nH is the number of
houses in one line.
2.2.3. Relative backwater rise
Backwater rise is the rise of water in front of vegeta-
tion due to reflection and resistance by the vegetation
(Figure 4(a)). Backwater rise was calculated using the
following equation:
Δh ¼ h1  h0 (13)

2.2.2. Index of resistance where h1 is the water depth on the seaward side with
The importance of large structures (trees and houses) vegetation, i.e. on the upstream side of the vegetation
and a backward-facing step in energy reduction was model, and h0 is the water depth on the seaward side
also determined by developing a relationship without vegetation, i.e. the water depth in a model
between the index of resistance and total water channel without vegetation (Figure 4(a)).
head difference by tree/house. Both the trees and
houses offered sufficient resistance to the tsunami 2.2.4. Moment index
flow, which was calculated in terms of index of resis- To determine the possible damage to trees with the
tance (Cd dn), and defined as a “product of the drag provision of a backward facing step, the moment (M)
coefficient and thickness of trees/houses.” The index acting on a tree trunk at ground height is given by
of resistance per unit strip was calculated using the the following equation:
following equation: h 1 h 1
M¼F ¼ CD ρu2 h  ¼ CD ρ  u2 h2
2 2 2 2
Index of resistance ðCd dnÞ 1
¼ Cdv dBH nv þ CdH dH nH ðNos:mÞ (12) ¼ CD ρ  IM (14)
2

Figure 4. Flow structure scheme and definition of various parameters: (a) without step and (b) with step, where h0 is the initial
water depth without vegetation model, Δh is the backwater rise, hs is the step height, F0 is the Froude number at h0 (initial
Froude number), W is the width of the vegetation model, y1 the is minimum water depth during the jump (water depth at the
toe of a hydraulic jump), y2 is the mean water depth after the hydraulic jump, HGL is the hydraulic grade line, EGL is the energy
grade line, E1 the is specific energy at vegetation front, and E2 is the mean specific energy after formation of a hydraulic jump
where the flow is subcritical.

where F is the fluid force in unit widths, h is the water
depth at the step location, CD is the drag coefficient, ρ
is the density of the fluid, u is the depth-averaged
velocity, and IM is the moment index (=u2h2).
2.3. Experimental setup and conditions
2.3.1. Experimental procedure and flume
characteristics
Laboratory experiments with nine different cases
(Table 2) were conducted at Saitama University in a
glass-sided water flume that was 5 m in length, 0.7 m
in width, and 0.5 m in height. Figure 5(a) shows the
detailed setup of the experimental channel from sea-
ward to landward sides. The bed slope was set to a
constant value of 1/500 before and after the step. In
the experimental channel, the ground conditions and
tsunami characteristics implicated were not specific to
any location but were considered in general.
Vegetation models covering the full width of the chan-
nel, as shown in Figure 5(a), were mounted in the
water flume bed about 2.5 m from the upstream
inlet, followed by a downward step of 2.5 cm height.
The water level was measured throughout the center
of the channel by using a rail-mounted point gauge.
The discharge was measured using a flowmeter (Signet
8150 Flow Totalizer). The depth-averaged velocity was
computed using the measured water depth and dis-
charge. The water velocity calculated from the flow-
meter discharge reading was compared with the
depth-averaged velocity calculated from particle
image velocimetry (Laser Light Sheet: G200, high
speed digital CCD camera: K-II, fps: 600, flow analyzing
software: FlowExpert2D2C, Katokoken Co., Ltd.). The
difference was less than 5%.
2.3.2. Similarity conditions
The Reynolds number Re = UL/v, where U is the
reference velocity (m/s), L is a reference length
Table 2. Experimental conditions.
Initial Froude number Vegetation density Distance between cylinders Vegetation width Vegetation thickness
Case no. F0 G/d D (cm)
1 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 0.25 1 3.88
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
2 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 1.09 1.67
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
3 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 2.13 2.5
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
4 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 0.25 1 8.23
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
5 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 1.09 1.67
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
6 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 2.13 2.5
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
7 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 0.25 1 12.58
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
8 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 1.09 1.67
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
9 0.57, 0.62, 0.65, 0.66, 0.68, 2.13 2.5
0.69, 0.70, 0.71, 0.73
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 9
considered to be the cylinder diameter (m), v is the
kinematic viscosity (m2/s) of fluid based on the dia-
meter of a single cylinder, and the mean velocity of
approach flow without a vegetation model ranged
from 1300 to 2500 against different flow conditions.
The drag coefficient of a cylinder remains almost
constant for the range of Reynolds numbers between
103 and 105 (Anderson 1991). Also, the viscosity and
density of water were same for every case; thus,
Reynolds number was ignored.
The Weber number W is defined as U2ρL/σ, where
U is the reference velocity (m/s), ρ is the density of sea
water (1030 kg/m3), L is the reference length (m), and
σ is the surface tension (0.0728 N/m for water–air
interface at 20°C). By considering water depth without
a vegetation model as a reference length, the Weber
number ranged from 47 to 359 against different flow
conditions. In the current experimental study, the
mean velocity of approaching flow without a vegeta-
tion model against nine water depths (0.03–0.07 m)
ranged from 0.33 to 0.61 m/s, which is greater than
the conditions to reduce surface tension effects
defined by Novak and Cabelka (1981). For models of
intake (shallow flows), the Weber number must be
greater than 11 to eliminate the effects of surface
tension and viscosity (Novak et al. 1990). Thus, it is
assumed that the Weber number does not affect the
scaling of the measured forces. Moreover, Froude
scaling is commonly used to measure free surface
gravity flows; therefore, to set the flow conditions in
the current study, Froude similarity was applied to set
the model scale (1/100) of the physical experiment.
2.3.3. Setting initial Froude number to a steady-
subcritical state
All experiments were conducted in steady state flow
conditions. In case of an unsteady flow, reflection by
the forest affects the flow discharge toward the inland
(downstream vegetation), and these reflection effects
W (cm) dn (No. cm) Vegetation type
179.21 Dense
10.55 174.72 Intermediate
24.27 179.36 Sparse
380.13 Dense
23.60 390.85 Intermediate
52.48 387.83 Sparse
581.05 Dense
35.2 582.96 Intermediate
78.52 580.27 Sparse
10 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

Figure 5. Experimental setup: (a) schematic figure of channel with vegetation model, (b) detailed arrangement of vegetation
model, (c, d) vegetation model with 2.5 cm step, (e) dense vegetation model with dn = 380.13 No. cm, (f) intermediate
vegetation model with dn = 390.85 No. cm, and (g) sparse vegetation model with dn = 387.83 No. cm.

can be assumed to be larger than those of the steady
flow case. At the point of maximum water depth, the
change in water depth w.r.t. time is small, and the
reflection is limited near the forest and is also
assumed to be small. However, in the case of a steady
flow, the water is deeper and the relative reflection is
less, so the difference between steady and unsteady
flows can be neglected. In addition, to understand the
fundamental effect of flow on the energy loss due to a
step, it is important to study it first with a steady flow.
However, in the future, more study of unsteady flow
conditions is needed.
Near the coast, the tsunami flow was supercritical
and had a Froude number greater than 1 (Nandasena,
Sasaki, and Tanaka, 2012; Tanaka et al. 2014); how-
ever, the flow changed to a subcritical state when it
traveled inland, with the range of Froude numbers
between 0.7 and 1 (Spiske et al. 2010). As discussed
in our previous studies (Tanaka, Yagisawa, and
Yasuda, 2013; Pasha and Tanaka, 2016a, 2016b), it is
better to set a coastal forest inland where it is
expected to trap tsunami-borne floating debris.
Moreover, in Souma Port (line 15), the CdvFr2 (Cd = 1,
with no attached debris; Tanaka, Yagisawa, and
Yasuda 2013) was found to be less than 1 by the
field investigations; as a result, Fr was less than 1.
According to the field investigation, a larger energy
head occurred against a water depth-to-step height
ratio (hz/hs) of 1.0–3.5 (Figure 6(a)). Beyond hz/hs of
3.5, the increased water depth over the step reduced
the impact of collision with the ground, and as a
result, loss of the energy head decreased.
For the above-mentioned reasons, a slightly lower
range of initial Froude numbers (F0) was selected to
keep the range of water depth-to-step height ratios
without a vegetation model between 1.20 and 2.80
(to represent actual investigation sites) and also due
to the restricted channel length. This study defined

Figure 6. (a) Relationship between overflow depth/step height (hz/hs) and loss of energy head, and (b) relationship between
index of resistance and loss of energy head.
the initial Froude number (F0) when the reference
velocity and water depth were used without a vege-
tation model in a water flume. For creating sub-critical
conditions of an inundating tsunami, the water
depths without a vegetation model (h0 in Figure 4
(a)) in the experiment were from 3 to 7 cm in incre-
ments of 0.5 cm, setting the initial Froude number
approximately equal to 0.55–0.75. Against the water
depth-to-step height ratio of 1.0–3.5, the backward-
facing step height selected for the experiment was
2.5 cm for a model scale of 1/100 (Figure 5(c,d)).
2.3.4. Vegetation conditions
The tree species selected for the vegetation model
were the Japanese red pine (P. densiflora) and black
pine (P. thunbergii) (average tree height = 15 m and
trunk diameter = 0.4 m) found on the Sendai Plain;
their tree crown was high relative to the tsunami
height, and the trees can be considered to be circu-
lar cylinders (Tanaka et al. 2014). For a 1/100 scale
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 11
model, wooden cylinders with a diameter of 0.004 m
were used as tree models in a staggered arrange-
ment. Figure 5(b) and Table 2 show details of the
vegetation arrangement, where D is the distance
between cylinders and W is the width of the vegeta-
tion model.
According to Takemura and Tanaka (2007), flow
structures differ depending upon the G/d arrange-
ment of the vegetation model (vegetation density),
where G represents the spacing between each cylin-
der in a cross-stream direction and d is the diameter
of a cylinder (Figure 5(b)). The G/d ratio indicates
whether vegetation is sparse or dense. In order to
investigate the energy reduction through vegetation,
vegetation models with three different G/d values
(0.25, 1.09, and 2.13) were made. A model with a G/
d of 0.25 represents dense vegetation, while G/d of
1.09 and 2.13 characterize intermediate and sparse
vegetation, respectively (Figure 5(e–g)). In the field,
the sparse vegetation (G/d = 2.13) can be planted
12 G. A. PASHA ET AL.
using Japanese red pine (P. densiflora) and Japanese
black pine (P. thunbergii) trees. However, small G/d
values like intermediate (G/d = 1.09) and dense (G/
d = 0.25) vegetation do not correspond to real forests
in the area of applicability. When the resistance by
tree crowns is included, the drag force becomes quite
high. Tropical trees that have aerial roots, like
Rhizophora spp. and Pandanus odoratissimus, can pro-
vide a large resistance because the density is quite
high. Young trees less than 2–3 m tall have a low
crown height and can provide a large drag force.
The crown height of the pine trees in Sendai is quite
high, so we cannot expect resistance by the tree
crown. Thus, when a reference diameter that includes
the drag effect by the crown part of trees having a
low crown height and dense branches and leaves is
considered, the G/d value may be small. In addition, it
is possible to create conditions for a small G/d by
selecting trees that have aerial roots like Rizophora
or P. odoratissimus in tropical regions, although tropi-
cal regions are limited in range. Moreover, if vegeta-
tion is combined with an artificial structure like
timber, it becomes possible to make a dense enough
structure.
D and W were determined under the same vegeta-
tion thickness dn (No. cm), which is expressed as a
function of the summed tree diameter and is defined
as a product of the diameter of a tree (d) at breast
height and the number of trees (n) in a rectangle with
a frontage of unit length along the shoreline and
depth equal to the width of the forest (W) (Figure 5
(b); Shuto 1987). In this study, dn was calculated using
the following equation:
2
dn ¼ pffiffiffi Wd  102 (15)
3D2
where 102 in the above equation adjusts a unit in
Shuto’s definition of dn (No. cm) on a 1:100 scale,
because d, D, and W are in centimeters. In the experi-
ment, dn was set to three values, i.e. 180, 380, and
580 (No. cm). Shuto (1987) classified the effective-
ness of a forest and the degree of damage to the
forest and land in terms of tsunami inundation
depth, vegetation thickness, and the presence of
undergrowth. Referring to his study, dn = 180
No. cm represents areas where some trees on weak
soil or at the forest fringe may be damaged and soil
around the trees may be scoured, dn = 380 No. cm
corresponds to an area where soil in the forest may
be scoured and damaged to some extent, and
dn = 580 No. cm represents an area where neither
damage to trees nor damage to soil occurs. Cases 1,
4, and 7 represent cases of dense vegetation (G/
d = 0.25) with variable thickness (dn = 180, 380,
and 580 No. cm), while cases 2, 5, and 8 are cases
of intermediate vegetation (G/d = 1.09) against
dn = 180, 380 and 580 No. cm, respectively. The
cases of sparse vegetation (G/d = 2.13) include 3, 6,
and 9 with the three values of vegetation thickness,
i.e. dn = 180, 380 and 580 No. cm.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Importance of backward-facing step in
energy reduction revealed by field investigation
Table 1 shows the number of houses that existed on
all 15 lines of the investigation sites before and after
the tsunami, while the location of houses relative to
other structures such as the embankment, step, vege-
tation, canal, and step is shown in Figure 2(a). Lines 1,
2, and 15 had no sea embankment but had a step of
1.8, 1.8, and 1.5 m height, respectively. The number of
surviving houses on these lines after the tsunami was
around 50–60%. The existence of a step may be one
of the possible reasons for their survival. Moreover,
the houses at lines 1 and 2 were located behind large
structures and in a harbor area, whereas the houses
on line 15 were located on a relatively higher ground
than surrounding houses, and this may have mini-
mized the damage too.
Lines 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, and 14 had a sea embankment,
but it was washed out by the tsunami flow. However,
the percentage of houses remaining after the tsunami
was far higher on lines that had a step (3, 4, and 5)
than lines that had no step (11, 13, and 14). Lines 3
and 4 had one structure, which is the South Gamo
sewage treatment plant, and the building that
remained is a large reinforced concrete structure
along with the presence of a creek (a narrow water
channel) besides the Teizan Canal (Figure 2(b)). The
strength of the structure and presence of the creek
might also be reasons for the survival of the houses.
Lines 11, 13, and 14 had no step but had a wooden
structure typology, flat area, open coastline, etc. These
may also be possible reasons for the damage to
houses along with the absence of a step. Rahman
et al. (2016) investigated tsunami mitigation by canals
and confirmed that the tsunami lost energy due to
the turbulence caused by the splashing in the canal
and the resultant reflected wave. Dao, Adityawan, and
Tanaka (2013) also showed that the tsunami flow may
lose energy when it enters a canal. In cases of over-
topping flow from the embankment, the scour depth
and length were greatly increased by an increase in
the energy head at the embankment (Tanaka and
Sato 2015). Similar to a canal and overflow from an
embankment, the tsunami flow loses energy when it
collides with the backward facing step.
3.1.1. Impact of water depth-to-step height ratio
on loss of energy head
Figure 6(a) shows the relationship between the water
depth-to-step height ratio (hz/hs) and loss of energy

head for the field investigation lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8,
and 15, where hz is the water depth measured in the
field immediately before the step and hs is the mea-
sured step height in the field (Figure 3(b)). The loss of
energy head was calculated by subtracting E2 (land
side) from E1 (sea side) using Equation (1). Lines 3 and
4 had small hz/hs, 1.4–1.6, and the energy reduction
was due to the effect of striking the bottom, i.e.
collision. The loss due to collision was reduced in
lines 1 and 2 due to a higher water depth-to-step
height ratio, i.e. hz/hs = 2.8, and thus lowering loss
of the energy head, as shown in Figure 6(a).
3.1.2. Impact of index of resistance on loss of
energy head
Both the trees and houses offered sufficient resistance
to the tsunami flow, which was calculated in terms of
index of resistance (Cd dn) using Equation (12).
Figure 6(b) shows the relationship between the
index of resistance (Cd dn) and the loss of energy
head (m). The overall trend shows that increasing
the Cd dn increased the energy reduction. However,
lines 3 and 4 (marked by section A in Figure 6(b))
indicate a large loss of energy head even with a
small Cd dn due to the presence of a large structure
and creek. Line 3 also has a river nearby (Figure 1(b)),
which contributed to the energy loss due to lateral
mixing of water from the river and sea side. Moreover,
due to a smaller water depth-to-step height ratio in
lines 3 and 4, greater energy reduction was observed
due to the collision effect (Figure 6(a)). Section B in
Figure 6(b) (lines 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, and 15), which has a
dropping structure, showed a larger loss of energy
head compared to only houses plus forest trees with-
out any dropping structure (section C, Figure 6(b)). A
flow that is perpendicular to the coast line is assumed
to have more energy and produce more damage. The
damage observed perpendicular to line 11 was not
much changed throughout the line, and the energy
reduction showed a similar trend to that with no large
step (Figure 6(b)). Therefore, the effect of lateral flow
was not considered in this study. The results from the
field survey suggest that a dropping structure like a
step resulted in the energy reduction and contributed
to survival of more houses.
3.2. Flow structure around vegetation model
Increasing the density of vegetation increases the max-
imum water level in front of the vegetation and the water
surface slope inside the vegetation (Iimura and Tanaka
2012). However, on the landward side, an undular
hydraulic jump is produced if the water depth landward
of the vegetation is less than the critical depth (Pasha and
Tanaka, 2016c, 2017). The characteristics of the undular
hydraulic jump mainly depend upon the flow and vege-
tation conditions. Figure 7 shows detailed water profiles
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 13
at the center of a channel for vegetation plus step con-
ditions (VS), whereas Figure 8 shows a comparison of the
water profiles at the center of a channel for only vegeta-
tion (OV) and vegetation and step (VS) conditions. When
water flows through vegetation, it faces great resistance,
resulting in decreased water depth as it progresses. As a
result, a large difference in water level can be seen in VS
and OV arrangements, especially seaward of the vegeta-
tion and inside the vegetation (Figures 7 and 8). However,
landward of the vegetation and after the jump, the water
levels are the same for VS and OV.
In the VS arrangement, when the water depth-to-
step height ratio was lower, i.e. with a low initial
Froude number, the stream of water landward of the
step became supercritical, and during its transforma-
tion to a subcritical state, it formed a weak undular
jump. Although the intensity of the undular jump was
low compared to the only vegetation conditions (OV)
observed by Pasha and Tanaka (2016c, 2017) and land-
ward of vegetation, the difference in water depths
before and after the undular hydraulic jump was very
small (Figure 7). Figure 8 shows that the length of an
undular hydraulic jump increases with the provision of
a step. However, at higher ratios of water depth-to-step
height, no undular hydraulic jump was formed, and the
flow remained in a supercritical state in the channel. In
such a case, most of the energy was dissipated by
vegetation resistance and the collision with the lower
elevation ground (step). Increasing the initial Froude
number also increased the length of the undular
hydraulic jump, and for most of the cases, the length
stretched beyond the available length of the channel,
as can be seen in Figure 7.
3.3. Seaward side of vegetation model –
backwater rise
3.3.1. Effect of initial Froude number on backwater
rise
The initial flow conditions without vegetation models
placed in the channel varied between F0 = 0.55 and
F0 = 0.75. Figure 9(a-i–iii) shows the relative backwater
rise calculated using Equation (13) for different vege-
tation densities [dense (G/d = 0.25), intermediate (G/
d = 1.09), and sparse (G/d = 2.13)] vegetation thick-
ness (dn = 180, 380, and 580 No. cm), with a step (VS)
and without a step (OV). The relative backwater rise is
defined as the ratio of water elevation (Δh) to initial
flow depth (h0). Figure 9(a) suggested that the relative
backwater rise increased slightly with different Froude
conditions. The increased velocity for higher Froude
numbers, i.e. higher energy head for higher velocities,
consequently increased the backwater rise. The results
shown in Figure 9(a) suggest that the backwater rise
(Δh) increased relative to the initial water depth (h0);
thus, the difference (Δh/h0) with the increase in the
initial Froude number is much less.
14 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

Figure 7. Distribution of water level for vegetation thickness 380 No. cm with step: (a) dense vegetation (G/d = 0.25), (b)
intermediate vegetation (G/d = 1.09), and (c) sparse vegetation (G/d = 2.13).

3.3.2. Effect of vegetation density and thickness on
backwater rise
Other than the Froude number, the backwater rise
greatly depends on the vegetation arrangement, i.e.
vegetation density and thickness. In the VS arrange-
ment, while keeping the spacing between cylinders
(G/d) constant and increasing the vegetation thick-
ness (dn), the backwater rise became almost double
when the dn was raised from 180 to 580 No. cm
(Figure 9(a)). Similarly, the backwater rise was also
increased by reducing the distance between cylinders,
i.e. increasing the vegetation density while keeping
the vegetation thickness constant. Figure 9(b) shows
the relationship between the relative backwater rise
(Δh/h0) and vegetation densities (G/d = 0.25, 1.09,
2.13) for three values of vegetation thickness: (i)
dn = 180, (ii) dn = 380, and (iii) dn = 580 No. cm.
Figure 9(b) includes a comparison of the relative back-
water rise for conditions of both vegetation with a
step and vegetation without a step. To improve the
readability of Figure 9(b), the trend line and R2 value
were included for the single flow condition with
F0 = 0.68.
It can be seen in Figure 9(b) that the backwater rise
was lower for the sparse vegetation conditions as
compared to the dense condition for a given Froude
number and thickness. A dense arrangement of trees
caused a higher flow resistance than a sparse
 COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 15

Figure 8. Distribution of water levels from bed for vegetation thickness 380 No. cm with step (VS) and without step (OV) (Pasha
and Tanaka, 2016c, 2017): (a) dense vegetation (G/d = 0.25), (b) intermediate vegetation (G/d = 1.09), and (c) sparse vegetation
(G/d = 2.13).

arrangement and consequently resulted in a higher 3.4. Energy reduction behind vegetation model
backwater rise. However, the relative backwater rise
Hydraulic resistance and reflection of water from trees
seaward of vegetation slightly decreased in the com-
can reduce the energy of flowing water, inundation
bined arrangement (VS) as compared to only vegeta-
depth, inundation area, and the hydraulic force
tion (OV) (Figure 9(a,b)). This is because, due to inertial
behind the vegetation. The force of the water passing
forces and the decrease of bed resistance just behind
through vegetation becomes weaker, which reduces
vegetation, the step drags the stream of water slightly
the damage behind the vegetation. As the density of
down just at the landward of vegetation, which also
vegetation increases (i.e. vegetation width becomes
affected the seaward flow depth and thus contributed
smaller), the maximum water level and maximum
to a slightly lower backwater rise in the combined
velocity behind the vegetation decrease (Iimura and
arrangement.
16 G. A. PASHA ET AL.
Figure 9. Relationship between relative backwater rise (Δh/h0) and (a) initial Froude number (F0): (i) G/d = 0.25, (ii) G/d = 1.09,
and (iii) G/d = 2.13; (b) vegetation density: (G/d) (i) dn = 180 No. cm, (ii) dn = 380 No. cm, and (iii) dn = 580 No. cm.
Tanaka 2012), resulting in significant energy reduc-
tion. Figure 7 shows a significant difference between
the water depths seaward and landward of vegeta-
tion, which resulted in a certain reduction of energy.
The energy reduction (ΔE) through a vegetation
model is the difference between specific energy sea-
ward (E1) and landward of vegetation
(E2), which was calculated by using Equation (1)
(Figure 4).
With an increase in vegetation density, the water
level was increased in front of the vegetation by
reflection and damming, and the water surface slope
inside the vegetation was increased (Iimura and
Tanaka, 2012; Pasha and Tanaka, 2016a). During the
experiments, it was observed that as the water flow
passed through the vegetation, the depth started to
decrease, as was previously demonstrated by Iimura
and Tanaka (2012), and landward of the vegetation,
the depth became less than the critical depth that
resulted in the formation of an undular hydraulic
jump. Pasha and Tanaka (2016c, 2017) found that
the undular hydraulic jump landward of the vegeta-
tion (Figure 8) also contributed to energy reduction to
some extent. However, adding a step to vegetation in
the current study reduced the intensity of the jump
and also increased the length of the undular hydraulic
jump even beyond the available length of the channel
in some cases (Figure 7). Thus, it was impossible to
figure out how energy reduction contributed to the
jump in the combined arrangement (VS). Therefore,
only the total energy reduction (vegetation + hydrau-
lic jump) was calculated, i.e. ΔE = E1 − E2 where E1 is
the specific energy at the forest front and E2 is the
mean specific energy after formation of a hydraulic

jump where the flow is subcritical (Figure 4). However,
in the VS condition, the difference between water
depths before and after the jump was much less
(Figure 7), and for a higher Froude number flow, the
mean value of E2 was calculated with the water depth
prevailing in the last part of the channel, i.e. from 350
to 480 cm from the channel start. The mean values of
E2 were considered due to fluctuations in the water
surface after the hydraulic jump.
3.4.1. Effects of initial Froude number, vegetation
density, and thickness on total energy loss
Figure 10(a) shows the relationship between the
relative total energy reduction (ΔE/E1) and the initial
Froude number (F0), whereas the standard deviation
values of all the plots are shown in Tables 3 (VS)
and 4 (OV). Figure 10(b) shows the relationship
Figure 10. Relationship between relative total energy reduction (ΔE1/E1) for (a) initial Froude number (F0), (i) G/d = 0.25, (ii) G/
d = 1.09, and (iii) G/d = 2.13; (b) vegetation density (G/d): (i) dn = 180 No. cm, (ii) dn = 380 No. cm, and (iii) dn = 580 No. cm.
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 17
between the relative total energy reduction (ΔE/E1)
and vegetation densities (G/d = 0.25, 1.09, 2.13) for
three values of vegetation thickness: (i) dn = 180,
(ii) dn = 380, and (iii) dn = 580 No. cm. Figure 10(b)
includes a comparison of relative total energy
reductions for both conditions of vegetation with
a step and vegetation without a step. To improve
the readability of Figure 10(b), the trend line and R2
value are included for the single flow condition
with F0 = 0.68.
Figure 10(b) shows that in OV conditions, while
keeping the vegetation thickness constant, the total
relative energy reduction was greatest for dense
vegetation (G/d = 0.25) and least for sparse vegetation
(G/d = 2.13) due to higher resistance offered by the
dense vegetation arrangement. However, the relative
energy reduction remained almost constant when the
18 G. A. PASHA ET AL.

Table 3. Standard deviation values for relative energy reduction in vegetation + step (VS) (Figure 10(a)), where dn is in No. cm.
VS
Dense vegetation Intermediate vegetation Sparse vegetation
F0 OS dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580 dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580 dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580
0.58 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01
0.62 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.06 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
0.64 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01
0.66 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02
0.68 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02
0.69 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
0.70 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.01
0.71 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02
0.73 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.04 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.02
OS: Only step; VS: vegetation + step.

Table 4. Standard deviation values for relative energy reduction in only vegetation (OV) (Pasha and Tanaka 2016c, 2017)
(Figure 10(a)), where dn is in No. cm.
OV
Dense vegetation Intermediate vegetation Sparse vegetation
F0 dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580 dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580 dn = 180 dn = 380 dn = 580
0.58 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02
0.62 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02
0.64 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02
0.66 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.02
0.68 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02
0.69 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02
0.70 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02
0.71 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.02
0.73 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.01
OV: Only vegetation.

initial Froude number was increased from 0.55 to 0.75
(Figure 10(a)). Against a constant vegetation density,
the relative energy reduction was slightly increased
by increasing the thickness of the vegetation (in the
OV arrangement). Wider vegetation produced a larger
resistance and reflection of water and thus resulted in
higher energy reduction to some extent.
With a no-vegetation arrangement, i.e. only step
condition (OS), the energy reduction was solely
due to the collision with the bed surface that
occurred at the step, i.e. at the point of change
in elevation. This energy reduction started to
decrease with the increase in water depth over a
step of a constant height (points of OS in Figure 10
(a)). Since the energy reduction due to a collision
starts to decrease with an increase in water depth
or with an increase in the initial Froude number,
the total relative energy reduction in the VS
arrangement also showed a decreasing trend with
an increase in the Froude number. However, the
experimental results of total energy reduction in a
VS arrangement were less than a summation of the
separate energy reductions due to OV and OS
arrangements. This is due to the fact that the loss
due to collision in a VS arrangement was less than
that in OS, because the water depth at the step
location was higher in the VS arrangement than in
the OS arrangement. Therefore, an additional coef-
ficient needs to be added in numerical calculations
to find the combined energy reductions.
However, the effect of vegetation thickness
became very small in the VS arrangement, and the
energy was reduced only 3–5% when dn was
increased from 180 to 380 compared to an energy
reduction of 8–10% in the OV arrangement.
Conversely, the total energy reduction through the
VS arrangement was 13–18%, 15–20%, and 20–25%
for dense, intermediate, and sparse vegetation,
respectively, higher than in the OV arrangement
(Figure 10(a,b)). Although among the three spacing
conditions, the dense VS arrangement dissipated
greater energy as compared to intermediate and
sparse VS arrangements (Figure 10(b)), the above
results suggest that the loss due to collision was
greater in the sparse VS arrangement because the
resistance offered by trees in sparse vegetation was
smaller compared to that by dense vegetation and
the water flowed with high velocity through vegeta-
tion and collided with the lower elevation ground
with greater impact. The results showed that a com-
bination of more closely spaced vegetation (dense/
intermediate) and a step can be a more favorable
arrangement for planning tsunami mitigation in the
future.
3.4.2. Possible damage to trees
Damage to trees is greatly dependent on tsunami
conditions, and the diameter of trees and root ancho-
rage greatly affect the possible damage (Tanaka,

Yagisawa, and Yasuda 2013). However, the possible
damage to trees with the provision of a backward-
facing step can be judged by knowing the moment
acting on a tree trunk at ground height (Equation
(14)). The moment index (IM = u2h2) is a function of
unit discharge. The water depth and velocity at a step
location are changed in with and without step condi-
tions, although the unit discharge remains the same.
However, the drag coefficient changes with the flow
structure. Thus, it is assumed that the step has very
little effect on bending of trees.
3.5. Tsunami mitigation proposed plan for area
near port
During the extensive damage of the 2011 tsunami,
coastal forests played a vital role in tsunami mitigation.
If the Froude number is relatively lower on the inland
side, then the trees can withstand the pressure of float-
ing debris and can trap debris (Tanaka, Yagisawa, and
Yasuda, 2013; Pasha and Tanaka, 2016a, 2016b), and
this was also confirmed at Sendai, Natori, Yotsukura
Beach, and Shinmaiko Beach during the field investiga-
tion. Similarly, near the port area, the Froude number
was low and the forest can be considered as an inland
forest. The Reconstruction Agency (2011) has recom-
mended taking advantage of coastal forests when
reconstructing coastal areas in the future. In the
Sendai Plain, a multilayer countermeasure is being
implemented to mitigate the tsunami impact by com-
bining a seawall with a coastal forest and elevated land
or roadways, and Iwanuma City in Miyagi Prefecture is
one example of this strategy (Suppasri et al. 2016).
Likewise, to design and establish a vegetation bioshield
that dissipates the energy of the flow inland and espe-
cially in the port area, the findings of the current
research can be utilized. Figure 11 shows a proposed
plan for tsunami mitigation by a combination of vege-
tation and a step.
However, adding a step to only vegetation has a
few disadvantages as well. The biggest disadvantage
is local scouring just after the step as a result of the
water collision with impact. Excessive scouring can
also undermine the roots of vegetation, which can
lead to possible failure. However, scouring can be
Figure 11. Proposed plan for tsunami mitigation at a port area by a combination of vegetation and a step.
COASTAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL 19
prevented by protecting the earth using a suitable
energy dissipation structure or concrete protection,
as proposed in Figure 11. Another disadvantage of a
step is that the length of the hydraulic jump landward
of vegetation is increased, which is confirmed by
Figures 7 (with step) and 8 (without step). Due to
the increased length of the hydraulic jump, the super-
critical flow prevails for a longer length of ground and
can be harmful for inland residential areas. In order to
prevent this, a grass field following the energy dissi-
pation structure and a small embankment is pro-
posed, which can help reduce the velocity of water
due to additional resistance and ultimately reduce the
length of the hydraulic jump. Although the provision
of an embankment will reduce the energy due to
collision, having the effect of a water cushion, the
overall energy reduction is expected to be greater.
Tanaka and Igarashi (2016) investigated the effects
of a double embankment on energy dissipation and
found greater energy reduction with the provision of
a second embankment. However, a quantitative inves-
tigation of the effects of an embankment (down-
stream of a step) on energy reduction is proposed
for future work. The combination of a forest and a
step is one promising option under a compound
defense system for dissipating tsunami energy.
However, more study is needed to investigate the
scour length and area of the grass field.
4. Conclusions
Field investigations and experimental studies were
conducted to optimize a compound defense system
composed of vegetation and a backward-facing step
for tsunami mitigation. Experiments were designed
with variations in inflow, vegetation density, and
thickness against a constant step height. The follow-
ing conclusions were drawn from the current study:
(1) The results of the field investigation showed that
the survey lines which had a dropping structure
like a step behind vegetation resulted in greater
energy loss from tsunami flow. The energy loss
occurred due to vegetation resistance, collision
with bed at step location, and by the formation
20 G. A. PASHA ET AL.
of hydraulic jump at downstream of vegetation
and step. It was also seen that with the increase
in the water depth-to-step height ratio, the loss
of energy head decreased.
(2) Seaward of the vegetation model without a step
(OV), the backwater rise increases while keeping
the spacing between cylinders (density) constant
and increasing the thickness (width) of the vege-
tation. Similarly, the backwater rise also increases
by reducing the spacing between cylinders and
keeping the vegetation thickness constant.
However, adding a step behind the vegetation,
i.e. the combined arrangement (VS), lowered the
backwater rise slightly due to inertial forces. A
dense arrangement of tree models produces a
higher flow resistance than a sparse arrange-
ment, which consequently resulted in a higher
back water rise.
(3) On the landward side, the vegetation resistance
and water collision with the ground just behind
a step result in an energy reduction. In the OV
arrangement, the relative energy reduction
remained almost constant when the initial
Froude number was increased from 0.55 to
0.75, while it increased when both the vegeta-
tion density and thickness were increased. On
the other hand, in the VS arrangement, the
relative energy reduction showed a decreasing
trend with increasing initial Froude number
because the loss due to collision becomes less
with the increase in the initial Froude number.
These findings are important for designing a suitable
tsunami mitigation scheme for an area located near a
port or inland area. In the future, more study of a greater
step height and higher Froude number is required in
order to further investigate the phenomena. Moreover,
the energy reduction due to collision with some suitable
energy dissipation structure needs to be studied.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
authors.
Funding
This study was funded by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific
Research: [Grant Number 15H02987].
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