Numerical Simulation of Open Coast Surges. Part II: Experiments with Storm Parameters and Shelf Geometry

Abstract

Storm surge simulation studies are carried out with a numerical hydrodynamic model which uses conformal mapping technique suggested by WANSTRATH et al. (1976) for transforming the irregular shelf region into a rectangle. The flow field is simulated by solving the depth averaged shallow water equations in the transformed plane. The 1977 Andhra Cyclone is considered as a test case for these simulation studies. The shelf region influenced by this storm is along the east coast of India between Madras and Kalingapatnam. This study indicates, the sensitivity of the model to the near shore shelf bathymetry and to the wind stress coefficient; the importance of the tangential wind stress field over atmospheric pressure field; and the negligible influence of non-linear terms and the momentum entering the ocean waters outside the shelf region on surge estimates.