Stochastic Surrogate Model for Meteotsunami Early Warning System in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Denamiel, Cléa, Šepić, Jadranka, Huan, Xun, Bolzer, Célia, Vilibić, Ivica
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Coastal Processes Research Group, School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University 2019
• Subjects: eastern Adriatic; extreme seaâ level hazard assessment; meteotsunami early warning system; Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences; Geological Sciences; Science; The Cryosphere
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/152998; https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015574

The meteotsunami early warning system prototype using stochastic surrogate approach and running operationally in the eastern Adriatic Sea is presented. First, the atmospheric internal gravity waves (IGWs) driving the meteotsunamis are either forecasted with stateâ ofâ theâ art deterministic models at least a day in advance or detected through measurements at least 2 hr before the meteotsunami reaches sensitive locations. The extreme seaâ level hazard forecast at endangered locations is then derived with an innovative stochastic surrogate modelâ implemented with generalized polynomial chaos expansion (gPCE) method and synthetic IGWs forcing a barotropic ocean modelâ used with the input parameters extracted from deterministic model results and/or measurements. The evaluation of the system, both against five historical events and for all the detected potential meteotsunamis since late 2018 when the early warning system prototype became operational, reveals that the meteotsunami hazard is conservatively assessed but often overestimated at some locations. Despite some needed improvements and developments, this study demonstrates that gPCEâ based methods can be used for atmospherically driven extreme seaâ level hazard assessment and in geosciences in wide.Plain Language SummaryAtmospherically driven extreme seaâ level events are one of the major threats to people and assets in the coastal regions. Assessing the hazard associated with such events together with uncertainty quantification in a precise and timely manner is thus of primary importance in modern societies. In this study, an early warning system for the eastern Adriatic meteotsunamis, destructive long waves with periods from few minutes up to an hour generated by traveling atmospheric disturbances, is presented and evaluated. The system is based on stateâ ofâ theâ art deterministic atmospheric and ocean models as well as an innovative statistical model developed to forecast the meteotsunami hazard. The evaluation reveals that the meteotsunami hazard is ...