64 th interdepartmental hurricane conference march 2, 2010 savannah, georgia

U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological Survey

64th Interdepartmental Hurricane ConferenceMarch 2, 2010

Savannah, Georgia

Mapping Hurricane

Inland Storm Surge

• Intent of SSS Pilot Program

• History of SSS Pilot Program

• Roles & Responsibilities

• Designing a SSS Network

• Sensors & Housings

• Timeline of Storm Event

• Results

Where Do You Want to Go Today?

Intent of SSS Test Program

Storm Surge Monitoring

A USGS program to monitor the areal extent and time hydrograph of hurricane storm surge for better documentation and modeling using rapid-deployment gages for the improvement of understanding of storm surge for better forecasting and response.

Intent of SSS Test Program


The data from this program is used to better calibrate storm surge models for more accurate surge forecasting caused by hurricanes.

Traditional surge documentation was high water marks

Previous to program, few continuous hydrographs of storm surge with very sparse coverage of any one event

• Idea created by staff at Ruston, LA Program Office following Katrina (2005)

• Quickly deployed for Rita (2005) in LA• Wilma (2005) in FL• Three SSS Centers created in 2006

(Ruston, Atlanta, and Orlando)• Ernesto (2006) in Carolinas• Limited deployment for Dean in South

TX (2007)• Formalized by line item for 2008 USGS

budget• Deployed for Gustav and Ike (2008)• No Gulf deployments in 2009• Limited deployment (6) for T.S. Ida in

Chesapeake Bay (2009)• No line item in 2010• Maximum 1 small deployment in 2010

History of SSS Pilot Program


• Project Oversight—OSW

• Storm Surge Centers• Ruston, LA

• Atlanta

• Orlando

• Water Science Centers

• Focused on Gulf States, but Atlantic and Caribbean deployments possible

Roles and Responsibilities

Chain of Command OSW

Ruston Atlanta Orlando

TX

LA

MS

AL

VA

NC

SC

GA

FL

PR

Prior to start of seasonOSW & SSC planning period

Prior to landfallBriefings from NHC & NWSAssign SSC primary lead & teamsAssign WSC Communications leadDeploy sensors

After landfallSensor Recovery and processingCooperator/media outreach

Post-stormSurveying (if needed)Data Analysis and ReportingPrep for next stormPost-storm briefings to OFCM workgroup

Roles and ResponsibilitiesCommunication & Coordination

• Pre-determined sites• Selected from map and surge model

analysis• Some may be pre-reconned• Some may have been deployed at

previously• State and local agencies comments solicited• Need more input from OFAs (NOAA, Corps)• Starting to have “fixed” surge sites

• Opportunistic sites• Location determined during pre-deployment

meeting and during deployment• “On-the-fly”

SSS Network Design

Types of Sites

• Sensor location in water column• Expected surge height• Variability in Projected Storm Path• Datum Control• Barrier Islands• Accessibility• Proximity to Population Centers• Proximity to Existing Real-Time Gages• Quality-Assurance of SSS• Location of Barometric Pressure Sensors• Local WSC needs

SSS Network Design

Site Selection Factors

• Onset HOBO pressure transducer (196 total)• Uses USB docking station to download data• Non-vented pressure transducer• 0-30 foot range• Internal battery must be factory replaced• Used for 30-second data intervals• Used as both BP and Surge sensors

• Insitu TROLL pressure sensor (32 total, RT & salinity)• Non-vented pressure transducer• 0-35.8 foot range• SDI-12• Used for 2-second data intervals (wave height)

Sensors and Housings

Sensor Types

• Housing Pipe• Housing Cap• Sensor Eye Bolt• Ratchet Strap• USGS Visual Identity Sticker

Sensors and Housings

Housing

Results

H

High-watermarkHigh-watermark

Time-Series Water-Level Hydrographs!Results-Rita

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3136/

Surge/Velocity Progression up Calcasieu River

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

9/23/05 9/24/05

TIME, IN DAYS

ELEV

ATI

ON

, IN

FEE

T A

BO

VE N

AVD

198

8

LC8aLC7LC6aLC5LC2aLC2b

8.7 ft/s

5.2 ft/s

2.8 ft/s

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

9/23/05 9/24/05

TIME, IN DAYS

ELEV

ATI

ON

, IN

FEE

T A

BO

VE N

AVD

198

8


8.7 ft/s

5.2 ft/s

2.8 ft/s

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

9/23/05 9/24/05

TIME, IN DAYS

ELEV

ATI

ON

, IN

FEE

T A

BO

VE N

AVD

198

8


8.7 ft/s

5.2 ft/s

2.8 ft/s

Results-Rita


Wave Heights 1000 Feet From Beach

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

9/23/05 9/24/05 9/25/05 9/26/05

WA

TE

R L

EV

EL

IN F

EE

T

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

DIF

FE

RE

NC

E IN

FE

ET

WaterLevelDifference

Tide

Results-Rita


Storm Tide at 12:00 am

LafayetteLake Charles

Port Arthur

Beaumont

9.36.6

5.35

6.066.035.99

2.01

10.1

0.69

9.176.1110.56

§̈¦10§̈¦210

§̈¦49

§̈¦10

§̈¦10

£¤90

£¤165

£¤167

£¤69

£¤90

Cameron Vermilion

Calcasieu

Acadia

Orange

Jefferson Davis Lafayette

Jefferson

NewtonJasper

Iberia

St. Martin

St. Landry

Sabine Natl Wildlife RefugeSabine Natl Wildlife Refuge

Cameron Prairie NwrCameron Prairie Nwr

Results-Rita




Port Arthur

Beaumont

5.95

6.926.896.91

4.78

2.02

2.12 2.25

7.32

10.34 13.0812.21

10.62

13.8914.25 10.34

§̈¦10§̈¦210

§̈¦49

§̈¦10

§̈¦10

£¤90

£¤165

£¤167

£¤69

£¤90

Cameron

Vermilion

CalcasieuAcadia

Orange


Jefferson

Newton

Iberia

Jasper

St. Martin

St. Landry

Sabine Natl Wildlife RefugeSabine Natl Wildlife RefugeCameron Prairie NwrCameron Prairie Nwr

Results-Rita




Port Arthur

Beaumont

7.7

7.84

7.727.68

8.517.359.79

7.27

7.01

9.35

4.09 4.32

9.18 9.61

7.99

10.59

§̈¦10§̈¦210

§̈¦49

§̈¦10

§̈¦10

£¤90

£¤165

£¤167

£¤69

£¤90

Cameron

Vermilion

Calcasieu

Acadia

Orange


Jefferson

NewtonJasper

Iberia

St. Martin

St. Landry


Results-Rita




Port Arthur

Beaumont

7

9.8

8.838.798.79

7.016.864.47

9.06

4.98 5.65

6.47

7.26 7.42

6.75

10.01

§̈¦10§̈¦210

§̈¦49

§̈¦10

§̈¦10

£¤90

£¤165

£¤167

£¤69

£¤90

£¤90

Cameron

Vermilion

Calcasieu

Acadia

Orange


Jefferson

NewtonJasper

Iberia

St. LandryBeauregard

St. Martin

Allen


Results-Rita


8.7

9.52

7.52

14.9

7.38

5.04 6.93

8.03

8.93

6.62

9.35

10.07

10.62

13.8213.34

11.15

14.8314.68 10.73

§̈¦10§̈¦210

§̈¦49

§̈¦10

§̈¦10

£¤90

£¤165

£¤96

£¤167

£¤69

£¤171

£¤90

Cameron

Vermilion

Calcasieu

Acadia

Orange


Jefferson

NewtonJasper

St. Landry

Allen

Iberia

Beauregard

St. Martin


Maximum Storm TideResults-Rita


21

Hurricane Rita 10-foot Flood Elevations

Results-Rita


Results-Gustav

Landfall September 1, 2008

Results-Gustav

121 total sensors deployed• 61 water level• 49 barometric pressure• 10 were lost to storm

• 21 sites had surge• 18 sites monitored riverine flooding• 5 sites were mixed/uncertain• 17 affected by gates/pumps• 8 feet approximate maximum

surge recorded

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1373/

Results-Ike

Landfall on September 12-13, 2008


Results-Ike

105 total sensors deployed• 59 water level• 46 barometric pressure• 12 were lost to storm

• 41 sites had surge• 10 sites monitored riverine flooding• 8 sites were beach/wave• 14-15 feet approximate maximum

surge recorded


Summary

Collaborations

• Office of Federal Coordination for Meteorology—Post-storm data workgroup

• National Hurricane Center• National Weather Service• Digital Hurricane Consortium (for

complimentary wind data)• Universities:

• LSU• OU• Notre Dame• Florida• Clemson

• Need more input from modelers!!!

Summary

• Program has been activated for 7 storms since 2005

• Standard Operations Plan in place for non-real-time sensor deployment

• All information online at:• http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_sur

ge.html

• Efforts have attracted numerous media including The Weather Channel and CNN

• For 2010—smaller deployments (1 storm max)

• Data are extremely valuable for modeling and understanding of storm surge—thus potentially benefitting from future prediction and response.

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_surge.html

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/storm_surge.html

Questions?

Brian McCallum

(770) 903-9127

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

64 th interdepartmental hurricane conference march 2, 2010 savannah, georgia

Documents

storm surge models

accurate surge forecasting

surge model analysissome

stormpoststorm briefings

flthree sss centers

carolinaslimited deployment

small deployment

predeployment meeting