Numerical study on a possible cause of the ‘strange tide’ in the coastal area of Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract

There are many eyewitness reports on unexpected water level change called ‘strange tide’ around the area of the radial sand ridges off the coast of Jiangsu Province, China, which has caused several fatal accidents in history. This study aims to prove whether a fast-moving atmospheric pressure disturbance can be a possible cause of the ‘strange tide.’ Based on the nonlinear shallow water model, a large number of scenarios for waves induced by a fast-moving pressure disturbance are numerically simulated and the maximum of the wave amplification ratio in each scenario is discussed. In each scenario, we assume an idealized pressure disturbance passing through the concerned area. The heading angle and translational speed of atmospheric disturbances are considered as variables. The results show that a fast-moving pressure disturbance can induce large wave level fluctuation in this area. In some special situations, the water level rise can be amplified more than 40 times than the water level change caused by a pressure disturbance with equivalent intensity under static equilibrium state. Both the heading angle and translational speed of atmospheric disturbances play a very important role in the occurrence of dangerous situation. The most dangerous combination of the two parameters is discussed, and the disaster prone locations in this area are identified considering the historical accidents and the numerical experiments.