APPLICATION OF THE MODIFIED LINEAR SUPERPOSITION METHOD FOR TIDE AND STORM SURGE INTERACTION — TROPICAL AND EXTRA-TROPICAL CYCLONES

Abstract

Coastal modeling efforts have applied different ways to handle the interaction of storm surge and tides. In relatively deep water, tidal superposition can be considered an approximately linear process (with the storm-generated water level added to the tide level providing a reasonable total water level). However, in shallow water with restricted access to the ocean, tide and surge superposition can be nonlinear such that simple addition of surge and tide proves inaccurate. The paper and presentation provide an extension of previous work that developed the Modified Linear Superposition (MLS) Method to analyze the interaction of the storm surge with the tide. The method is designed to produce accurate, unbiased results while at the same time not requiring excessive computer resources and time.