A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Most analyses of storm surge and inundation solve equations of continuity and momentum on fixed finite-difference/finite-element meshes. I develop a completely new approach that uses a momentum equation to accelerate bits or balls of water over variable depth topography. The thickness of the water c...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2009-01-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Geophysics |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/324707 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832552827548860416 |
|---|---|
| author | Steven N. Ward |
| author_facet | Steven N. Ward |
| author_sort | Steven N. Ward |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most analyses of storm surge and inundation solve equations of continuity and momentum on fixed finite-difference/finite-element meshes. I develop a completely new approach that uses a momentum equation to accelerate bits or balls of water over variable depth topography. The thickness of the water column at any point equals the volume density of balls there. In addition to being more intuitive than traditional methods, the tsunami ball approach has several advantages. (a) By tracking water balls of fixed volume, the continuity equation is satisfied automatically and the advection term in the momentum equation becomes unnecessary. (b) The procedure is meshless in the finite-difference/finite-element sense. (c) Tsunami balls care little if they find themselves in the ocean or inundating land. (d) Tsunami ball calculations of storm surge can be done on a laptop computer. I demonstrate and calibrate the method by simulating storm surge and inundation around New Orleans, Louisiana caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and by comparing model predictions with field observations. To illustrate the flexibility of the tsunami ball technique, I run two “What If” hurricane scenarios—Katrina over Savannah, Georgia and Katrina over Cape Cod, Massachusetts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1d94614bbcb14c89b064417edd9d8663 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1687-885X 1687-8868 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2009-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Geophysics |
| spelling | doaj-art-1d94614bbcb14c89b064417edd9d86632025-02-03T05:57:39ZengWileyInternational Journal of Geophysics1687-885X1687-88682009-01-01200910.1155/2009/324707324707A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005Steven N. Ward0Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USAMost analyses of storm surge and inundation solve equations of continuity and momentum on fixed finite-difference/finite-element meshes. I develop a completely new approach that uses a momentum equation to accelerate bits or balls of water over variable depth topography. The thickness of the water column at any point equals the volume density of balls there. In addition to being more intuitive than traditional methods, the tsunami ball approach has several advantages. (a) By tracking water balls of fixed volume, the continuity equation is satisfied automatically and the advection term in the momentum equation becomes unnecessary. (b) The procedure is meshless in the finite-difference/finite-element sense. (c) Tsunami balls care little if they find themselves in the ocean or inundating land. (d) Tsunami ball calculations of storm surge can be done on a laptop computer. I demonstrate and calibrate the method by simulating storm surge and inundation around New Orleans, Louisiana caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and by comparing model predictions with field observations. To illustrate the flexibility of the tsunami ball technique, I run two “What If” hurricane scenarios—Katrina over Savannah, Georgia and Katrina over Cape Cod, Massachusetts.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/324707 |
| spellingShingle | Steven N. Ward A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 International Journal of Geophysics |
| title | A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
| title_full | A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
| title_fullStr | A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
| title_short | A Tsunami Ball Approach to Storm Surge and Inundation: Application to Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
| title_sort | tsunami ball approach to storm surge and inundation application to hurricane katrina 2005 |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/324707 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stevennward atsunamiballapproachtostormsurgeandinundationapplicationtohurricanekatrina2005 AT stevennward tsunamiballapproachtostormsurgeandinundationapplicationtohurricanekatrina2005 |