Remotely induced storm effects on the coastal flooding along the southwest coast of India

The southwest coast of India is exposed to long-period swells propagated from the South Indian Ocean during pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Although swells from the Southern Ocean and Atlantic Ocean were identified in the North Indian Ocean, their existence and impact along the southwest coast of Ind...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oceanologia
Main Authors: P.S. Swathy, Krishna, Valliyil Mohammed, Aboobacker, Madipally, Ramesh, L. Sheela, Nair
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier
Subjects:
IASO swells
ERA5 winds
Indian Ocean
Kerala coast
Coastal inundation
Wave runup
Southern Ocean
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10576/54342
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceano.2023.03.003
Description
Summary:The southwest coast of India is exposed to long-period swells propagated from the South Indian Ocean during pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Although swells from the Southern Ocean and Atlantic Ocean were identified in the North Indian Ocean, their existence and impact along the southwest coast of India were not well investigated. On 19 March 2019, the Valiyathura-Shangumukham coastal stretch along the southwest coast of India experienced an unexpected coastal inundation without having a prompt forecast/warning, and not induced by a storm/cyclone in its vicinity. The present study investigates the causative forces of this inundation and estimates the wave runup and inundation. The study reveals that an unusual swell system was developed in the Indian-Atlantic-Southern Oceans (IASO) interface during 10–12 March and propagated towards the southwest coast of India. The measured wave spectra off Varkala clearly depicts the presence of long-period swells (Tp>18 s), which dominantly occurred as single-peaked. Wave modelling has been carried out to characterize the wave transformation associated with the “IASO interface swells” along the southern Kerala coast. A wave runup of up to 0.93 m height and a coastal inundation of up to 83 m onshore have been estimated during this event. UNESCO Chair in Marine Sciences at Qatar University, funded through the project, QUEX-ESC-QP-TM-18/19-01.

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