High Resolution Field Observations and Fully Nonlinear Boussinesq Modeling of Meteotsunamis
Abstract
The commonness of meteorological tsunamis (at Florida coast, northern Gulf of Mexico, northwestern Atlantic coast, Great Lakes, Mediterranean Sea) and the threats they pose to coastal communities and infrastructure generate the need for better understanding and forecasting of these events. In this study, meteotsunamis are evaluated using field observations and the fully nonlinear Boussinesq wave model FUNWAVE-TVD. FUNWAVE-TVD has a module for atmospheric forcing due to a pressure source of two-dimensional Gaussian distribution. The model is first tested for the meteotsunami event which was observed during a cold front passage in the northern Gulf of Mexico, triggering 1.7 m high solitons in the nearshore along the shelf. The meteotsunami is modeled using the shelf bathymetry and the atmospheric conditions reported for the event. The simulated meteotsunami propagation is compared with the results obtained from the data analysis and the application of the variable-coefficient Korteweg-de Vries equation. Then, the model framework is used for running tests of generating perturbations with different directions and intensities and analyzing the results. Ongoing study also includes the collection and analysis of high spatial- and temporal-resolution field measurements (being recorded nearly continuously) of vertical structures of waves, currents and turbidity at multiple locations along the Louisiana coast.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMOS54B..02S
- Keywords:
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- 4504 Air/sea interactions;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICALDE: 4512 Currents;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICALDE: 4534 Hydrodynamic modeling;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICALDE: 4564 Tsunamis and storm surges;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL