Storm-induced surges have now been well studied, for example using coupled wave-current models. On the other hand, during many hurricane events, the flooding and the maximum surges inside bays, estuaries and rivers depend on the distance to the coastal ocean. For locations away or sheltered from the coastal ocean, the maximum surges are often attributed to the inland river flooding instead of the coastal surges, especially for hurricane events that have brought a substantial amount of precipitation. We studied the two types of surges (coastal surges and precipitation-induced surges) in Delaware Bay during Hurricane Irene (2011) using a fully coupled wave-current 3D baroclinic model based on the SCHISM modeling system, forced by flows predicted by the National Water Model, as part of NOAA's Integrated Water Project. We demonstrate that the creek-to-ocean capability of the model is essential to simulate the combined surge effects by using an unstructured grid that includes both a large ocean domain and upstream rivers and creeks (up to 10 m above sea level), with the precipitation effects being explicitly incorporated in the model.

Joseph Zhang is a Research Professor at the Center for Coastal Resource Management and Center for Recurrent Flooding Resilience, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. He has over 25 years of experience in researching coastal and oceanic flow processes. He is the lead developer of the community model, SCHISM (schism. wiki), a comprehensive modeling system for geophysical fluid dynamics, ecosystem dynamics, sediment transport and oil spill processes. The model has been extensively applied to studies of natural and anthropogenic hazards worldwide.

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