Hurricane Katrina Winds Measured by a Buoy-Mounted Sonic Anemometer

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Howden ◽  
David Gilhousen ◽  
Norman Guinasso ◽  
John Walpert ◽  
Michael Sturgeon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Horizontal Plane ◽  
Sonic Anemometer ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Marine Applications ◽  
Ocean Observing

Abstract The eye of Hurricane Katrina passed within 49 n mi of an oceanographic observing system buoy in the Mississippi Bight that is part of the Central Gulf of Mexico Ocean Observing System. Although a mechanical anemometer failed on the buoy during the hurricane, a two-axis sonic anemometer survived and provided a complete record of the hurricane’s passage. This is the first reported case of a sonic anemometer surviving a hurricane and reporting validated data, and it demonstrates that this type of anemometer is a viable alternative to the mechanical anemometers traditionally used in marine applications. The buoy pitch and roll record during the storm show the importance of compensating the anemometer records for winds oblique to the horizontal plane of the anemometers. This is made apparent in the comparison between the two wind records from the anemometers during the hurricane.

scholarly journals Hurricane Gustav (2008) Waves and Storm Surge: Hindcast, Synoptic Analysis, and Validation in Southern Louisiana

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (8) ◽  
pp. 2488-2522 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Dietrich ◽  
J. J. Westerink ◽  
A. B. Kennedy ◽  
J. M. Smith ◽  
R. E. Jensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Storm Surge ◽  
Unstructured Mesh ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Division ◽  
Time Histories ◽  
Southern Louisiana

AbstractHurricane Gustav (2008) made landfall in southern Louisiana on 1 September 2008 with its eye never closer than 75 km to New Orleans, but its waves and storm surge threatened to flood the city. Easterly tropical-storm-strength winds impacted the region east of the Mississippi River for 12–15 h, allowing for early surge to develop up to 3.5 m there and enter the river and the city’s navigation canals. During landfall, winds shifted from easterly to southerly, resulting in late surge development and propagation over more than 70 km of marshes on the river’s west bank, over more than 40 km of Caernarvon marsh on the east bank, and into Lake Pontchartrain to the north. Wind waves with estimated significant heights of 15 m developed in the deep Gulf of Mexico but were reduced in size once they reached the continental shelf. The barrier islands further dissipated the waves, and locally generated seas existed behind these effective breaking zones.The hardening and innovative deployment of gauges since Hurricane Katrina (2005) resulted in a wealth of measured data for Gustav. A total of 39 wind wave time histories, 362 water level time histories, and 82 high water marks were available to describe the event. Computational models—including a structured-mesh deepwater wave model (WAM) and a nearshore steady-state wave (STWAVE) model, as well as an unstructured-mesh “simulating waves nearshore” (SWAN) wave model and an advanced circulation (ADCIRC) model—resolve the region with unprecedented levels of detail, with an unstructured mesh spacing of 100–200 m in the wave-breaking zones and 20–50 m in the small-scale channels. Data-assimilated winds were applied using NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division Wind Analysis System (H*Wind) and Interactive Objective Kinematic Analysis (IOKA) procedures. Wave and surge computations from these models are validated comprehensively at the measurement locations ranging from the deep Gulf of Mexico and along the coast to the rivers and floodplains of southern Louisiana and are described and quantified within the context of the evolution of the storm.

scholarly journals Extreme changes to barrier islands along the central Gulf of Mexico coast during Hurricane Katrina

Circular ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Asbury Sallenger ◽  
Wayne Wright ◽  
Jeff Lillycrop ◽  
Peter Howd ◽  
Hilary Stockdon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Barrier Islands ◽  
Mexico Coast

Ocean observing collaboration to improve hurricane forecasting and modeling in the Gulf of Mexico

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth L. Perry ◽  
Kent Satterlee ◽  
Louis Brzuzy ◽  
Pak Tao Leung ◽  
Michael Vogel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Forecasting ◽  
Ocean Observing

scholarly journals Statistical Analysis of Nutrient Loads from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) to the Gulf of Mexico

Environments ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Phyllis Okwan ◽  
Yi Zhen ◽  
Huan Feng ◽  
Shinjae Yoo ◽  
Murty S. Kambhampati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
Nutrient Loads ◽  
Atchafalaya River ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Atchafalaya River Basin

This study investigated the annual and seasonal variations in nutrient loads (NO2− + NO3− and orthophosphate) delivered to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) and examined the water quality variations. The results indicate that (1) annually, the mean NO2− + NO3− and orthophosphate loads showed a steady increase during 1996–1999, a persistent level during 2000–2007, and a moderate increase during 2008–2016; (2) seasonally, NO2− + NO3− and orthophosphate in MARB in spring and summer were higher than those in autumn and winter. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified highly significant differences among seasonal loads; and (3) the median value of NO2− + NO3− in normal weather conditions were higher than that during and right after the hurricanes, while the median value of orthophosphate loads in normal weather conditions was higher than that during the hurricanes, but higher than that right after hurricanes. The two-sample t-test indicates a significant difference (p < 0.046) in orthophosphate loads before and after Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, it is found that there is a significant (p < 0.01) increase in nutrient loads during normal weather conditions. The results indicate that hurricane seasons can significantly influence the nutrient loads from the MARB to the Gulf of Mexico.

scholarly journals Assessing the Recovery Aftermaths of Selected Disasters in the Gulf of Mexico

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Adrian Doss ◽  
David Mcelreath ◽  
Rebecca Goza ◽  
Raymond Tesiero ◽  
Balakrishna Gokaraju ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
British Petroleum ◽  
River Flood ◽  
British Petroleum Oil Spill ◽  
Petroleum Oil

AbstractThis research examined quantitatively in-port grain loading levels during the periods preceding and succeeding selected human-made and natural disasters among U.S. Gulf Coast ports. The array of selected disasters consisted of the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill, the 2011 Mississippi River flood, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav, and Hurricane Isaac. The outcomes of the analyses showed that the examined in-port Gulf Coast grain loading activities have not fully recovered and achieved the level of normalcy that existed before the examined cataclysms.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Ocean Observing System to Meet Restoration Challenges in the Gulf of Mexico

Oceanography ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Murawski ◽  
William Hogarth
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Ocean Observing

scholarly journals Hurricane Katrina (2005). Part I: Complex Life Cycle of an Intense Tropical Cyclone

2007 ◽  
Vol 135 (12) ◽  
pp. 3905-3926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron McTaggart-Cowan ◽  
Lance F. Bosart ◽  
John R. Gyakum ◽  
Eyad H. Atallah
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Complex Life Cycle ◽  
Loop Current ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina (2005) on the Gulf Coast of the United States are without compare for natural disasters in recent times in North America. With over 1800 dead and insured losses near $40 billion (U.S. dollars), Katrina ranks as the costliest and one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes in history. This study documents the complex life cycle of Katrina, a storm that was initiated by a tropical transition event in the Bahamas. Katrina intensified to a category-1 hurricane shortly before striking Miami, Florida; however, little weakening was observed as the system crossed the Florida peninsula. An analog climatology is used to show that this behavior is consistent with the historical record for storms crossing the southern extremity of the peninsula. Over the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, Katrina underwent two periods of rapid intensification associated with a warm core ring shed by the Loop Current. Between these spinup stages, the storm doubled in size, leading to a monotonic increase in power dissipation until Katrina reached a superintense state on 28 September. A pair of extremely destructive landfalls in Louisiana followed the weakening of the system over shelf waters. Despite its strength as a hurricane, Katrina did not reintensify following extratropical transition. The evolution of the storm’s outflow anticyclone, however, led to a perturbation of the midlatitude flow that is shown in a companion study to influence the Northern Hemisphere over a period of 2 weeks. An understanding of the varied components of Katrina’s complex evolution is necessary for further developing analysis and forecasting techniques as they apply to storms that form near the North American continent and rapidly intensify over the Gulf of Mexico. Given the observed overall increase in Atlantic hurricane activity since the mid-1990s, an enhanced appreciation for the forcings involved in such events could help to mitigate the impact of similar severe hurricanes in the future.

Continued Development of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann E. Jochens ◽  
Mark Luther ◽  
Steve Meyers ◽  
Steven Howden ◽  
Eric Milbrant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Coastal Ocean ◽  
Ocean Observing
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