Tropical Cyclone Wind Field Forcing for Surge Models: Critical Issues and Sensitivities

The attributes and remaining critical deficiencies of current methods for surface wind specification that are typically applied to hindcast tropical cyclone generated storm surges are reviewed. Several wind fields developed for Hurricane Katrina (2005) in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico are applied with the ADCIRC hydrodynamic model to explore the sensitivity of predictions of coastal surges to wind fields developed by alternative methods. We emphasize the issues peculiar to the 24-hour prelandfall phase of the life cycle of a TC, which is the phase to which the coastal surge is primarily responsive.