Separation of the initial conditions in the inverse problem for 1D non-linear tsunami wave run-up theory

Abstract

We investigate the inverse tsunami wave problem within the framework of the 1D nonlinear shallow water equations (SWE). Specifically, we focus on determining the initial displacement $η_0(x)$ and velocity $u_0(x)$ of the wave, given the known motion of the shoreline $R(t)$ (the wet/dry free boundary). We demonstrate that for power-shaped inclined bathymetries, this problem admits a complete solution for any $η_0$ and $u_0$, provided the wave does not break. In particular, we show that the knowledge of $R(t)$ enables the unique recovery of both $η_0(x$) and $u_0(x)$ in terms of the Abel transform. It is important to note that, in contrast to the direct problem (also known as the tsunami wave run-up problem), where $R(t)$ can be computed exactly only for $u_0(x)=0$, our algorithm can recover $η_0$ and $u_0$ exactly for any non-zero $u_0$. This highlights an interesting asymmetry between the direct and inverse problems. Our results extend the work presented in \cite{Rybkin23,Rybkin24}, where the inverse problem was solved for $u_0(x)=0$. As in previous work, our approach utilizes the Carrier-Greenspan transformation, which linearizes the SWE for inclined bathymetries. Extensive numerical experiments confirm the efficiency of our algorithms.