H111-0019
Complex Numerical Simulation of the U.S. East Coast and Inland Areas using a Coupled Hydrologic, Hydrodynamic and Ocean model: Application to Hurricane Sandy
Friday, 11 December 2020
Poster
Hassan Mashriqui, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Office of Water Prediction, National Weather Service (NWS), Silver Spring, United States, Sadiq Khan, NOAA/NWS National Water Center, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States, Beheen Trimble, NOAA-NWC, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States, Js Allen, NOAA National Water Center, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States, Ryan Grout, National Water Center, Tuscaloosa, United States, Trey Flowers, NOAA/NWS Office of Water Prediction, National Water Center, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States, Ali Abdolali, EMC/NOAA/NWS, College Park, United States, Saeed Moghimi, NOAA National Ocean Service, Silver Spring, MD, United States, Andre Jaco Van der Westhuysen, NOAA/NWS, College Park, MD, United States and Edward P Clark, NOAA, NWS Office of Water Prediction, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
Abstract:
Fluctuations of the total water level in the U.S. East Coast depends on the complex interactions of freshwater flow, tide, storm surge and wave actions. In order to include all major forcings of water movement in this area, a coupled modeling system consisting of the National Water Model (NWM), the Advanced Circulation Ocean Model (ADCIRC), and the WAVEWATCH III model has been developed. In this system, a coupled inland hydrologic model is linked to an ocean hydrodynamic and wave model to compute total water levels in the coastal zones. In the freshwater component of the hydrodynamic model, 1D river components were included in the model to capture accurate representation of tributaries to the 2D model of the estuary and oceans. The model domain included several states of the US East Coast starting from New Jersey to the St. Croix River at the US-Canada border.
Model simulations were compared with 2012 superstorm Sandy measured tidal water levels and hurricane surge. Initial simulations reproduced satisfactory spatial and temporal variations of water levels due to riverine discharge and storm surge. The model predictions showed that using 1D component allowed better representations of the inland rivers and produced accurate river water levels. Simulations indicated that water level in the inland areas depend on both river discharges and backwater effects of the ocean. These results showed the strengths of the coupled modeling system used in this research to compute total water levels during river flooding that coincides with extreme hurricane surge. Initial results showed that the coupled modeling framework used in this study is capable of total water estimation in the coastal zones and accuracy of the water levels highly depends on the availability of reliable topographic, bathymetric and bottom roughness data.
