North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS) Coastal Storm Model Simulations: Waves and Water Levels

• Main Authors: Cialone, Mary A, Massey, T C, Anderson, Mary E, Grzegorzewski, Alison S, Jensen, Robert E, Cialone, Alan, Mark, David J, Pevey, Kimberly C, Gunkel, Brittany L, McAlpin, Tate O
• Other Authors: ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER VICKSBURG MS COASTAL AND HYDRAULICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: Meteorology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Computer Programming and Software; *COASTAL REGIONS; *COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; *NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; *SEA LEVEL; *TROPICAL CYCLONES; *WAVES; HYDRODYNAMICS; MODELS; NUMERICAL METHODS AND PROCEDURES; OCEAN CURRENTS; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; HURRICANE SANDY; HYDRODYNAMIC MODELING; NACCS(NORTH ATLANTIC COAST COMPREHENSIVE STUDY); NUMERICAL MODELING; WATER LEVELS; CHS(COASTAL HAZARDS SYSTEM); NAC(NORTH ATLANTIC COAST); CSTORM-MS(COASTAL STORM MODELING SYSTEM); ADCIRC(ADVANCED CIRCULATION); ADCIRC MODELING; NEARSHORE WAVE MODELING; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA621343; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA621343

This document summarizes the coastal storm wave and water level modeling effort performed in support of the North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS). This effort involved the application of a suite of high-fidelity numerical models within the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CSTORM-MS). The study was conducted to provide information for computing the joint probability of coastal storm environmental forcing parameters for the U.S. North Atlantic Coast (NAC) because this information is critical for effective flood risk management project planning, design, and performance evaluation. CSTORM-MS modeling produced nearshore wind, wave, and water level estimates and the associated marginal and joint probabilities. Documentation of the statistical evaluation is provided in the companion report North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study (NACCS) Coastal Storm Hazards from Virginia to Maine (Nadal-Caraballo et al. 2015). In this study, both tropical and extratropical storms were strategically selected to characterize the regional storm hazard. CSTORM-MS was then applied with the wave generation and propagation model WAM, providing offshore, deep-water waves to apply as boundary conditions to the nearshore steady-state wave model STWAVE, ADCIRC to simulate the surge and circulation response to the storms, and STWAVE to provide nearshore wave conditions including local wind -generated waves. Products of this study are intended to close data gaps required for flood risk management analyses by providing statistical wave and water level information for the NAC within the Coastal Hazards System (CHS). The CHS is expected to provide cost and study time efficiencies and a level of regional standardization for project studies. The original document contains color images.