Effect of Summer Sea Level Rise on Storm Surge Analysis

Abstract

Typhoons occur intensively between July and October, and the sea level is the highest during this time. In particular, the mean sea level in summer in Korea is higher than the annual mean sea level about 14.5cm in the west coast, 9.0 to 14.5cm in the south coast, and about 9.0 cm in the east coast. When the rising the sea level and a large typhoon overlap in summer, it can cause surges and flooding in low-lying coastal areas. Therefore, accurate calculation of the surge height is essential when designing coastal structures and assessing stability in order to reduce coastal hazards on the lowlands. In this study, the typhoon surge heights considering the summer mean sea level rise (SH_m) was calculated, and the validity of the analysis of abnormal phenomena was reviewed by comparing it with the existing surge height considering the annual mean sea level (SH_a). As a result of the re-analyzed study of typhoon surge heights for BOLAVEN (SANBA), which influenced in August and September during the summer sea level rise periods, yielded the differences of surge heights (cm) between SH_a and SH_m 7.8~24.5 (23.6~34.5) for the directly affected zone of south-west (south-east) coasts, while for the indirect south-east (south-west) coasts showed -1.0~0.0 (8.3~12.2), respectively. Whilst the differences between SH_a and SH_m of typhoons CHABA (KONG-REY) occurred in October showed remarkably lessened values as 5.2~ 14.2 (19.8~21.6) for the directly affected south-east coasts and 3.2~6.3 (-3.2~3.7) for the indirectly influenced west coast, respectively. The results show the SH_a does not take into account the increased summer mean sea level, so it is evaluated that it is overestimated compared to the surge height that occurs during an actual typhoon. Therefore, it is judged that it is necessary to re-discuss the feasibility of the surge height standard design based on the existing annual mean sea level, along with the accurate establishment of the concept of surge height.