Introduction
The Coastal Disaster Risk Research Laboratory (CDRRL) conducts basic and applied interdisciplinary research on coastal disaster prevention and mitigation, mainly based on coastal engineering, ocean physics, and meteorology, to prevent and reduce disasters in coastal and marine areas. To study natural disasters is to understand natural phenomena. We believe it is important to study natural science from an engineering perspective and apply the knowledge to the real world. Disaster prevention and mitigation of natural disasters in coastal areas is a common problem not only in Japan but also in the world, and we are promoting universal research so that the results obtained can be used in many countries around the world.
As a member of Kyoto University, which is both a research institute and an institution of higher education, one of our missions is to nurture researchers who will become world-class researchers.
Coastal Risk Research Division in DPRI and Kyoto University
The Coastal Hazards Research Laboratory belongs to the Division of Meteorology and Hydro-meteorology in the Atmosphere and Water Research Group of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University. It conducts research on coastal hazards in cooperation with the research fields of climate, weather, wind, and hydrology. Our laboratory has been conducting research since 1961. Please refer to the laboratory's history.
The laboratory is also involved in graduate school education as an affiliated chair (coastal disaster engineering) in the Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University. It also cooperates in undergraduate education in the Department of Geo-Engineering.
Research Targets
Coastal areas in Japan have been severely affected by destructive natural disasters such as Ise Bay Typhoon in 1959 and Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami in 2011. Tsunamis are caused by trench earthquakes, which are explained by plate tectonics, and their long-term evaluation is very difficult. On the other hand, storm surges and tidal waves are natural phenomena that depend on the climate system, and climate change due to global warming may change the form of these extreme natural hazards.
The intensity of the disaster assesses disaster risk, the target of the damage (exposure) such as population and assets, and the vulnerability that depends on the region. Therefore, the accurate knowledge of local disaster characteristics is a research issue directly related to disaster risk reduction.
Based on this background, our research targets the following three phenomena related to coastal disasters.
- Waves generated by typhoons and cyclones
- Storm surges (abnormal tidal changes caused by typhoons and cyclones)
- Tsunamis (long-period waves caused by ocean surface displacement due to trench earthquakes, undersea landslides, and undersea volcanoes)
From a scientific point of view, tidal waves and storm surges can be viewed as processes in which wind momentum is transported from the atmosphere to the sea surface. Therefore, our laboratory is studying the following elementary processes with a particular focus on typhoons, focusing on the transfer of momentum and mass between the atmosphere and ocean.
Mechanisms of momentum and heat transport between the atmosphere and ocean during high wind speed events such as typhoons
Assessment and modeling of short- and long-term effects of waves on the atmosphere and ocean
These studies are of interest not only for coastal hazards but also for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of the atmosphere-ocean interface, which has scientific and engineering applications, such as climate change. In addition, as a practical engineering issue for coastal protection, we are studying wave forces and wave overtopping acting on beach deformation and coastal structures.
For more detailed information or to learn about other research projects, please refer to the Research Introduction in the menu. For more detailed information on our current research, please refer to Research Projects, and for the latest results, please refer to Scientific Papers and Commentaries.