The Study of the Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge and Bay-Ocean Exchange Using a Nesting Model
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SPECIAL ISSUE: HURRICANE SANDY IMPACTS AND RESPONSES
The Study of the Hurricane-Induced Storm Surge and Bay-Ocean Exchange Using a Nesting Model Xinyi Kang 1,2 & Meng Xia 1 Received: 2 April 2019 / Revised: 14 October 2019 / Accepted: 2 January 2020 # Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation 2020
Abstract Lagoon systems are more heavily impacted by hurricanes, whereas the relevant storm surge modeling studies have been paid little attention to lagoon systems and the storm-induced exchange in lagoon systems is even less understood. To address this gap, a three-dimensional unstructured grid-based model was configured for the Maryland Coastal Bays, a typical lagoon system with two unique inlets (Ocean City Inlet (OCI) and Chincoteague Inlet (CI)), to investigate how Hurricane Sandy impacted inlet dynamics. A nesting model framework was applied to provide the necessary remote forcing from a large model domain and maintain the intricate shoreline and bathymetry of an inner model domain. Results indicated that the flux patterns varied in response to the change in wind direction and rising/falling high water levels from the coastal ocean, rather than a single flow pattern during the passage of Sandy. From October 29 05:00 to 17:00 UTC, mild (> 10 m/s) and strong (> 15 m/s) northerly winds accompanied by the rising high water level from the coastal ocean promoted a mean inflow pattern at the OCI and a mean outflow pattern at the CI. Strong southwesterly winds (> 15 m/s) dominated in the bays from October 30 03:00 to 15:00 UTC. Under strong southwesterly winds and falling high water levels from the coastal ocean, flux was transported landward at the CI and seaward at the OCI. Sensitivity experiments on various storm temporal scales showed that a net inflow pattern occurred in the bays, and the net exchange amounts became smaller in response to longer storm durations. Residual effect of relatively high river flow from Sandy could still influence the salinity at the OCI, whereas the CI salinity was not affected by river flow owing to a long distance between the CI and river locations. Keywords Maryland Coastal Bays . Hurricane Sandy . Model nesting . Inlets . Flux dynamics . Salinity
Introduction A storm surge is an abnormal water level change generated by a storm, which is closely associated with extreme atmospheric pressure and wind forcing. The surge can be potentially devastating along the coasts to properties and the safety of human life. Hence, a comprehensive understanding of storm surge dynamics is essential for the relevant policy makers to make better and more informed decisions, to conserve environmental economic and natural resource subject to storm surges, and Communicated by Nathan Waltham * Meng Xia [email protected] 1
Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD, USA
2
Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China
to minimize coastal hazards
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