ADCIRC: An Advanced Three-Dimensional Circulation Model for Shelves, Coasts, and Estuaries. Report 4. Hurricane Storm Surge Modeling Using Large Domains

Abstract : This report investigates the use of large domains in modeling hurricane storm surge. The hydrodynamic model used in this study is the ADCJIRC-2DDI code, which is based on a two-dimensional, depth-integrated, finite element formulation. Hurricane wind stress and pressure forcing from Hurricane Kate are produced by the HURWIN code, a vertically averaged planetary boundary layer wind model. Storm surge predictions are conducted over three computational domains, which have varying sizes. The smallest domain covers the continental shelf, another domain includes the Gulf of Mexico, and the final domain is quite large and extends into the deep ocean. Domains over the continental shelf and the Gulf of Mexico are shown to be inadequate for modeling hurricane storm surge. On the contrary, a large domain, which includes the Western North Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, is optimal for use with storm surge models. The influence of an inverted barometer condition applied at the open boundary is examined for each computational domain. Circulation model, Numerical model, Finite element method, Storm surge model, Hurricane surge model, Two-dimensional model, Hydrodynamic model.