Abstract
The current state of science does not offer any remedy to stop a hurricane from occurring. Therefore, accurate storm surge models capable of predicting water velocity and elevation are indispensable. In this paper, the implementation of an implicit solver in the Advanced Circulation (ADCIRC) storm surge model is presented. The implemented implicit solver uses hybrid finite element and finite volume techniques for solving shallow water equations. Objectives of this research include: Enhancing numerical stability, providing an option of using large timesteps, and the usage of a relatively easier mathematical formulation than the existing one in ADCIRC. The storm surge hindcast of Hurricane Katrina that hit Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005 is used as a case study. Stability of the solver, comparison of water elevation and velocity against observed data, impact of timestep sizes, and execution times of solvers are thoroughly investigated in this study. Results of the implemented implicit solver are compared with those of existing lumped explicit and semi-implicit solvers of ADCIRC; the findings appear to be very promising.
Highlights
Hurricanes are among the worst natural disasters, and storm surges caused by these hurricanes are the deadliest and most egregious contributors to the resulting destruction
The best track data published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is used as an input to Advanced Circulation (ADCIRC) [16] using ‘NWS’ input option ‘4 after producing wind field using Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) model (‘p15 compiled in ADCIRC ‘work’ folder)
The results are compared against observation data of buoy time series and high-water marks (HWM) collected after Hurricane Katrina
Summary
Hurricanes are among the worst natural disasters, and storm surges caused by these hurricanes are the deadliest and most egregious contributors to the resulting destruction. Even though it is not the only factor, climate change has made the impact of hurricanes much worse than ever [1]. Hurricanes have many aspects that need to be investigated; this paper focuses only on the modeling of storm surges that hurricanes bring to land. The physics of ocean circulation and the impact of hurricanes on ocean shallow water are formulated mathematically in the Shallow Water Equations (SWEs), and computer programs, called storm surge models, are used to numerically solve these equations. Wrongful predictions may result in unpreparedness for disasters, or unnecessary preparedness that would diminish public trust in authorities
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