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Storm Surge Measurement with an Airborne Scanning Radar AltimeterOver the years, hurricane track and intensity forecasts and storm surge models and the digital terrain and bathymetry data they depend on have improved significantly. Strides have also been made in knowledge of the detailed variation of the surface wind field driving the surge. The area of least improvement has been in obtaining data on the details of the temporal/spatial variation of the storm surge dome of water as it evolves and inundates the land to evaluate the performance of the numerical models. Tide gages in the vicinity of the landfall are frequently destroyed by the surge. Survey crews dispatched after the event provide no temporal information and only indirect indications of the maximum surge envelope over land. The landfall of Hurricane Bonnie on 26 August 1998, with a surge less than 2 m, provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the potential benefits of direct airborne measurement of the temporal/spatial evolution of storm surge. Despite a 160 m variation in aircraft altitude, an 11.5 m variation in the elevation of the mean sea surface relative to the ellipsoid over the flight track, and the tidal variation over the 5 hour data acquisition interval, a survey-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) aircraft trajectory allowed the NASA Scanning Radar Altimeter carried by a NOAA hurricane research aircraft to produce storm surge measurements that generally fell between the predictions of the NOAA SLOSH model and the North Carolina State University storm surge model.
Document ID
20080045473
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Wright, C. W. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Walsh, E. J. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Krabill, W. B. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Shaffer, W. A. (National Weather Service Silver Spring, MD, United States)
Baig, S. R. (National Hurricane Center Miami, FL, United States)
Peng, M. (North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh, NC, United States)
Pietrafesa, L. J. (North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh, NC, United States)
Garcia, A. W. (Army Engineer Research and Development Center Vicksburg, MS, United States)
Marks, F. D., Jr. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Miami, FL, United States)
Black, P. G. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Miami, FL, United States)
Sonntag, J. (EG and G Technical Services, Inc. Wallops Island, VA, United States)
Beckley, B. D. (SGT, Inc. Greenbelt , MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2008
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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