Analysis and prediction of storm water levels in Delaware inland bays

Shore & Beach ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Michele Strazzella ◽  
Nobuhisa Kobayashu ◽  
Tingting Zhu

A simple approach based on an analytical model and available tide gauge data is proposed for the analysis of storm tide damping inside inland bays with complex bathymetry and for the prediction of peak water levels at gauge locations during storms. The approach was applied to eight tide gauges in the vicinity of inland bays in Delaware. Peak water levels at the gauge locations were analyzed for 34 storms during 2005-2017. A damping parameter in the analytical model was calibrated for each bay gauge. The calibrated model predicted the peak water levels within errors of about 0.2 m except for Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The analytical model including wave overtopping was used to estimate the peak wave overtopping rate over the barrier beach from the measured peak water level in the adjacent bay.

Author(s):  
Tingting Zhu ◽  
Nobuhisa Kobayashi

Low-laying barrier beach is easily overtopped by waves during a severe storm, resulting in increased water level in the inland bays and extensive flooding along the long bay shoreline. Kobayashi and Zhu (2017) developed a simple analytical model to predict bay peak still-water elevation in Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay for given ocean peak still-water elevation and surge duration at Lewes . 27 storms identified during 2005-2015 were used to calibrate the dimensionless parameter K* related to the inlet and bay characteristics. The agreement is within 10% at tide gauges I and R and within 30% at tide gauge D.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Purnell ◽  
Natalya Gomez ◽  
William Minarik ◽  
David Porter ◽  
Gregory Langston

Abstract. We have developed a ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) technique for monitoring water levels with a comparable precision to standard tide gauges (e.g., pressure transducers) but at a fraction of the cost and using commercial products that are straightforward to assemble. As opposed to using geodetic-standard antennas that have been used in previous GNSS-R literature, we use multiple co-located low-cost antennas to retrieve water levels via inverse modelling of Signal-to-Noise ratio data. The low-cost antennas are advantageous over geodetic-standard antennas because they are much less expensive (even when using multiple antennas in the same location) and they can be used for GNSS-R analysis over a greater range of satellite elevation angles. We validate our technique using arrays of four antennas at three test sites with variable tidal forcing and co-located operational tide gauges. The root mean square error between the GNSS-R and tide gauge measurements ranges from 0.7–1.2 cm when using all four antennas at each site. We find that using four antennas instead of a single antenna improves the precision by 30–50 % and preliminary analysis suggests that four appears to be the optimum number of co-located antennas. In order to obtain precise measurements, we find that it is important for the antennas to track GPS, GLONASS and Galileo satellites over a wide range of azimuth angles (at least 140 degrees) and elevation angles (at least 30 degrees).


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-193
Author(s):  
Alberto Boretti

AbstractThe relative and absolute sea-level patterns in the five LTT tide gauge stations of Oceania, Fremantle, and Sydney in Australia, Auckland, and Dunedin in New Zealand, and Honolulu in the Hawaii Islands, United States of America, are analyzed first based on tide gauge and GPS time series. The average relative rate of rise is +1.306 mm/yr., the average acceleration is +0.00490 mm/yr2, and the average absolute rate of rise is +0.125 mm/yr. This result is consistent with the result for Japan and the West Coast of the Americas. All the LTT tide gauges of the Pacific consistently show a small sea-level rise, with a significant contribution by subsidence, and negligible acceleration. This result is well-matched by the land increase, rather than shrinking, of the Pacific atolls’ islands recently highlighted by other researchers. Two case studies for locations where there are no LTT tide gauges are then provided. In Tuvalu, over the short time window 1977 to present, the relative rate of rise is +1.902 mm/yr., biased by low ESO water levels, and subsidence, but the absolute rate of rise is +0.157 mm/yr. In Adelaide, the relative rate of rise of the sea level is less than 2.3 mm/yr. with an overwhelming contribution by subsidence of 2.1 mm/yr. The thermosteric effect is thus less than 0.2 mm/yr. The sea-level acceleration is also small negative in Adelaide, −0.01936 mm/yr2.


Author(s):  
Wolfgang Matthäus

SynopsisRecords of water levels date from the first hydrospheric observations. The levels of inland and coastal waters are recorded with the use of tide gauges of various types and construction. The float-level gauge, however, is by far the most frequently used.The oldest self-recording tide gauge was constructed by Henry R. Palmer, civil engineer of the London Dock Company, in 1831. A float resting on the water is placed in a well communicating with the river. The motion of the water surface is transmitted to the recording machine by wheels and shafts which act on a pencil rack. As the water level rises and falls, by the combined motions of a clock and the tide the pencil produces a line as a function of time.Even today this principle is still used for float-level gauges. It represents the basis of the modern tide gauges for observing sea levels and their variations.In 1831 we find another construction by Mitchell, which was erected in the Sheerness dockyard. A few years later Thomas G. Bunt developed a tide gauge, which was used on the eastern bank of the river Avon near Bristol from 1837 to 1872.In 1834 the first self-recording gauge was erected in France, near Le Havre. On the other continents the first installations were established in Algiers (1834), in the United States and in India (1846), and in Australia (1858)An installation in Hamburg (1861), which was developed by F. H. Reitz the engineer, is identified as the first German construction.In 1870 fifteen tide gauges were known on the shores of the European continent (except the British Isles). By 1883 Carlos Ibañez was using information from approximately 67 tide gauge stations for the determination of the mean sea level around the European mainland. Today we find more than 300 installations in Europe, about three-quarters of which are working in north-western European waters and in the Baltic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 673-685
Author(s):  
David J. Purnell ◽  
Natalya Gomez ◽  
William Minarik ◽  
David Porter ◽  
Gregory Langston

Abstract. We have developed a ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) technique for monitoring water levels with a comparable precision to standard tide gauges (e.g. pressure transducers) but at a fraction of the cost and using commercial products that are straightforward to assemble. As opposed to using geodetic-standard antennas that have been used in previous GNSS-R literature, we use multiple co-located low-cost antennas to retrieve water levels via inverse modelling of signal-to-noise ratio data. The low-cost antennas are advantageous over geodetic-standard antennas not only because they are much less expensive (even when using multiple antennas in the same location) but also because they can be used for GNSS-R analysis over a greater range of satellite elevation angles. We validate our technique using arrays of four antennas at three test sites with variable tidal forcing and co-located operational tide gauges. The root mean square error between the GNSS-R and tide gauge measurements ranges from 0.69–1.16 cm when using all four antennas at each site. We find that using four antennas instead of a single antenna improves the precision by 30 %–50 % and preliminary analysis suggests that four appears to be the optimum number of co-located antennas. In order to obtain precise measurements, we find that it is important for the antennas to track GPS, GLONASS and Galileo satellites over a wide range of azimuth angles (at least 140∘) and elevation angles (at least 30∘). We also provide software for analysing low-cost GNSS data and obtaining GNSS-R water level measurements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin H. Strauss ◽  
Philip M. Orton ◽  
Klaus Bittermann ◽  
Maya K. Buchanan ◽  
Daniel M. Gilford ◽  
...  

AbstractIn 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States, creating widespread coastal flooding and over $60 billion in reported economic damage. The potential influence of climate change on the storm itself has been debated, but sea level rise driven by anthropogenic climate change more clearly contributed to damages. To quantify this effect, here we simulate water levels and damage both as they occurred and as they would have occurred across a range of lower sea levels corresponding to different estimates of attributable sea level rise. We find that approximately $8.1B ($4.7B–$14.0B, 5th–95th percentiles) of Sandy’s damages are attributable to climate-mediated anthropogenic sea level rise, as is extension of the flood area to affect 71 (40–131) thousand additional people. The same general approach demonstrated here may be applied to impact assessments for other past and future coastal storms.


IoT ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Philip Knight ◽  
Cai Bird ◽  
Alex Sinclair ◽  
Jonathan Higham ◽  
Andy Plater

A low-cost “Internet of Things” (IoT) tide gauge network was developed to provide real-time and “delayed mode” sea-level data to support monitoring of spatial and temporal coastal morphological changes. It is based on the Arduino Sigfox MKR 1200 micro-controller platform with a Measurement Specialties pressure sensor (MS5837). Experiments at two sites colocated with established tide gauges show that these inexpensive pressure sensors can make accurate sea-level measurements. While these pressure sensors are capable of ~1 cm accuracy, as with other comparable gauges, the effect of significant wave activity can distort the overall sea-level measurements. Various off-the-shelf hardware and software configurations were tested to provide complementary data as part of a localized network and to overcome operational constraints, such as lack of suitable infrastructure for mounting the tide gauges and for exposed beach locations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amin Shoari Nejad ◽  
Andrew C. Parnell ◽  
Alice Greene ◽  
Brian P. Kelleher ◽  
Gerard McCarthy

Abstract. We analysed multiple tide gauges from the east coast of Ireland over the period 1938–2018. We validated the different time series against each other and performed a missing value imputation exercise, which enabled us to produce a homogenised record. The recordings of all tide gauges were found to be in good agreement between 2003–2015, though this was markedly less so from 2016 to the present. We estimate the sea level rise in Dublin port for this period at 10 mm yr−1. The rate over the longer period of 1938–2015 was 1.67 mm yr−1 which is in good agreement with the global average. We found that the rate of sea level rise in the longer term record is cyclic with some extreme upward and downward trends. However, starting around 1980, Dublin has seen significantly higher rates that have been always positive since 1996, and this is mirrored in the surrounding gauges. Furthermore, our analysis indicates an increase in sea level variability since 1980. Both decadal rates and continuous time rates are calculated and provided with uncertainties in this paper.


Atmosphere ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Phil J. Watson

This paper provides an Extreme Value Analysis (EVA) of the hourly water level record at Fort Denison dating back to 1915 to understand the statistical likelihood of the combination of high predicted tides and the more dynamic influences that can drive ocean water levels higher at the coast. The analysis is based on the Peaks-Over-Threshold (POT) method using a fitted Generalised Pareto Distribution (GPD) function to estimate extreme hourly heights above mean sea level. The analysis highlights the impact of the 1974 East Coast Low event and rarity of the associated measured water level above mean sea level at Sydney, with an estimated return period exceeding 1000 years. Extreme hourly predictions are integrated with future projections of sea level rise to provide estimates of relevant still water levels at 2050, 2070 and 2100 for a range of return periods (1 to 1000 years) for use in coastal zone management, design, and sea level rise adaptation planning along the NSW coastline. The analytical procedures described provide a step-by-step guide for practitioners on how to develop similar baseline information from any long tide gauge record and the associated limitations and key sensitivities that must be understood and appreciated in applying EVA.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 3181-3224 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Smolders ◽  
Y. Plancke ◽  
S. Ides ◽  
P. Meire ◽  
S. Temmerman

Abstract. Coastal lowlands and estuaries are subjected to increasing flood risks during storm surges due to global and regional changes. Tidal wetlands are increasingly valued as effective natural buffers for storm surges by dissipating wave energy and providing flood water storage. While previous studies focused on flood wave attenuation within and behind wetlands, this study focuses on the effects of estuarine wetland properties on the attenuation of a storm tide that propagates along the length of an estuary. Wetland properties including elevation, surface area, and location within the estuary were investigated using a numerical model of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium, SW Netherlands). For a spring tide lower wetland elevations result in more attenuation of high water levels along the estuary, while for a higher storm tide higher elevations provide more attenuation compared to lower wetland elevations. For spring and storm tide a arger wetland surface area results in a better attenuation along the estuary up to a threshold wetland size for which larger wetlands do not further contribute to more attenuation. Finally a wetland of the same size and elevation, but located more upstream in the estuary, can store a larger proportion of the local flood volume and therefore has a larger attenuating effect on upstream high water levels. With this paper we aim to contribute towards a better understanding and wider implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation to increasing estuarine flood risks associated with storms.


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