Storm Surge Simulations for Hurricane Hugo (1989): On the Significance of Inundation Areas
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 3
Abstract
The storm surge generated by Hurricane Hugo (1989) is reproduced for the purposes of (1) evaluating the significance of including inland flooding areas and corresponding levels of spatial resolution and (2) assessing the spatial variability of near-inlet boundary forcings with respect to storm surge hydrographs. The study focuses on the coastal regions of South Carolina, incorporating inundation areas between Charleston and Shallotte Inlet and including Winyah Bay and the Waccamaw River. The region of interest is modeled with five variations of an unstructured, finite-element mesh, including a localized coarse grid with and without floodplains, a localized fine grid with and without floodplains, and a large-domain approach that includes floodplains and the continental shelf and deep ocean. Simulation results demonstrate that the inclusion of inland flooding areas significantly improves the description of storm surge generation within coastal regions. While the large-domain approach is shown to be beneficial, it is determined that the coarse mesh resolution of the floodplains is sufficient. Computed water surface elevations at specific locations surrounding Winyah Bay Inlet indicate that storm surge hydrographs are highly spatially dependent near inlets, as opposed to the astronomical tides, which exhibit minimal variance in space around the inlet environment.
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Acknowledgments
This research was, in part, conducted under Award No. NA04NWS4620013 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Department of Commerce, and by Award No. N00014-02-1-0150 from the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP). The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA, the U.S. Department of Commerce, or NOPP and its affiliates.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 3 • May 2007
Pages: 183 - 191
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 30, 2005
Accepted: Apr 4, 2006
Published online: May 1, 2007
Published in print: May 2007
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