Effects of Nonlinearity and Bottom Friction on Hurricane-Generated Storm Surge in Central Pacific Ocean

A storm surge model based on the shallow water equations and solved by a finite difference scheme has been developed. This model is adapted from the original COMCOT tsunami simulation model developed by Liu's group at Cornell. The modified COMCOT model was first applied to simulate the storm surge generated by both Hurricane Iniki and Hurricane Iwa for model validation. Then the linear and nonlinear versions of the model along with or without bottom friction were tested, and the simulated results are compared in order to examine the nonlinear effects on the generation and evolution of storm surge in the Pacific Ocean. Our results show that the nonlinear effects including convective acceleration and the bottom friction terms are not significant in storm surge modeling for the Pacific insular environment.