Semidiurnal Perturbation to Storm Surge at the Apex of the South Atlantic Bight

Abstract:

Semidiurnal surge is a phenomenon that one can see M₂ tidal energy in surge signals. The occurrence of semidiurnal surges was dominant at the apex of the South Atlantic Bight (SAB) and was a product of tide-surge interactions. It is essential to storm surge forecasting system as the semidiurnal surge could significantly affect the timing and height of the peak storm surge.

The presentation exposes the a real case study during the first week of October in 2005, which reals a consistent semidiurnal surge event induced by the passage of cold frond on the SAB, follow with a landfall event of Tropical Storm Tammy in the north of the Florida. It is found that the semidiurnal surge happened with a phase delay and tidal amplitude reduction of the observed tide at the apex of the SAB, as well as highly associated with parallel-to-shore wind stress. Coriolis acceleration, in the momentum equation of the primary tidal direction (normal-to-shore) on the SAB, is suspected to be one of the fundamental mechanisms contributing to the orientation of the semidiurnal surge. The relevance of the Coriolis force to this phenomenon enhanced with the increase of the parallel-to-shore wind stress. Meanwhile, sea bottom friction, which reinforced by the wind-induced oceanic current, retarded and dampened the tides, thus resulted in the semidiurnal tidal signal in the surge. Geophysical factors, including tidal amplitude, coastline shape and storm parameters, all influence the severity of the semidiurnal surges on the SAB, and their effects were explored via idealized numerical experiments.