Storminess and vulnerability along the Atlantic coastlines of Europe: analysis of storm records and of a greenhouse gases induced climate scenario

Identification of the distinctive circulation patterns of storminess on the Atlantic margin of Europe forms the main objective of this study; dealing with storm frequency, intensity and tracking. The climatology of the extratropical cyclones that affect this region has been examined for the period 1940–1998. Coastal meteorological data from Ireland to Spain have been linked to the cyclone history for the North Atlantic in the analysis of storm records for European coasts. The study examines the evolution in the occurrence of storms since the 1940s and also their relationship with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Results indicate a seasonal shift in the wind climate, with regionally more severe winters and calmer summers established. This pattern appears to be linked to a northward displacement in the main North Atlantic cyclone track.

An experiment with the ECHAM4 A-GCM at high resolution (T106) has also been used to model the effect of a greenhouse gases induced warming climate on the climatology of coastal storms in the region. The experiment consists of (1), a 30-year control time-slice representing present-day equivalent CO₂ concentrations and (2), a 30-year perturbed period corresponding to a time when the radiative forcing has doubled in terms of equivalent CO₂ concentrations. The boundary conditions have been obtained from an atmosphere-ocean coupled OA-GCM simulation at low horizontal resolution. An algorithm was developed to allow the identification of individual cyclone movements in selected coastal zones. For most of the northern part of the study region, covering Ireland and Scotland, results describe the establishment by ca. 2060 of a tendency for fewer but more intense storms.

The impacts of these changes in storminess for the vulnerability of European Atlantic coasts are considered. For low-lying, exposed and ‘soft’ sedimentary coasts, as in Ireland, these changes in storminess are likely to result in significant localised increases in coastal erosion.     

Spatial and temporal variability of coastal storms in the North Atlantic Basin

Over the past three to four decades, there has been a growing awareness of the important controls exerted by large-scale meteorological events on coastal systems. For example, definitive links are being established between short-term (timescales of 5–10 years) beach dynamics and storm frequency. This paper assesses temporal variability of coastal storms (both tropical and extratropical) and the wave climatology in the North Atlantic Basin (NAB), including the Gulf of Mexico. With both storm types, the empirical record shows decadal scale variability, but neither demonstrates highly significant trends that can be linked conclusively to natural or anthropogenic factors. Tropical storm frequencies have declined over the past two or three decades, which is perhaps related to recent intense and prolonged El Niños. Some forecasts predict higher frequencies of tropical storms like that experienced from the 1920s to the 1960s to occur in coming decades. Results from general circulation models (GCMs) suggest that overall frequencies of tropical storms could decrease slightly, but that there is potential for the generation of more intense hurricanes. These data have important implications for the short-term evolution of coastal systems.

There is strong suggestion that extratropical systems have declined overall over the past 50–100 years, but that there is an increase in frequency of very powerful storms, especially at higher latitudes. Both ENSO and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are shown to have associations with frequencies and tracking of these systems. These empirical results are in general agreement with GCM forecasts under global warming scenarios. Analyses of wave climatology in the NAB show that the last two to three decades have been rougher at high latitudes than several decades prior, but this more recent sea state is similar to conditions from about 100 years ago. The recent roughness at sea seems to be related to high NAO index values, which are also expected to increase with global warming. Thus, when coupled to an anticipated continued rise in global sea level, this trend will likely result in increasing loss of sediment from the beach-nearshore system resulting in widespread coastal erosion.     

基于海气耦合模型的渤海两种类型风暴潮数值模拟与对比分析

渤海一年四季都易受到由温带风暴和热带气旋所致风暴潮的影响。为了缓解风暴潮灾害对海岸地区人员生命财产的影响,十分有必要了解大型风暴潮的发生过程和机制。目前大部分研究主要局限于单一的温带风暴潮或台风风暴潮。本文利用所构建的海气耦合数值模型研究了发生于渤海的两种类型的风暴潮,对发生在渤海的2次典型强风暴潮过程进行了模拟。由WRF模型模拟得到的风场强度和最低海平面气压与实测数据吻合较好,由ROMS模型模拟得到的风暴潮期间水位变化过程与潮位站观测结果也吻合较好。对两种类型风暴潮期间的风场结钩、海面风应力、海洋表面平均流场以及水位分布进行了分析对比,并将耦合模型结果与非耦合模型结果进行了对比。研究表明,渤海两种类型风暴潮期间的风场结钩、海面风应力、海洋表面平均流场以及水位分布等均存在巨大差异。渤海风暴潮的强度主要由海洋表面的驱动力所决定,但同时也受海岸地形地貌的影响。     

Storms and shoreline retreat in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Storms play a major role in shoreline recession on transgressive coasts. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL), southeastern Canada, long-term relative sea-level rise off the North Shore of Prince Edward Island has averaged 0.3 m/century over the past 6000 years (>0.2 m/century over 2000 years). This has driven long-term coastal retreat at mean rates >0.5 m/a but the variance and details of coastal profile response remain poorly understood. Despite extensive sandy shores, sediment supply is limited and sand is transferred landward into multidecadal to century-scale storage in coastal dunes, barrier washover deposits, and flood-tidal delta sinks. Charlottetown tide-gauge records show mean relative sea-level rise of 3.2 mm/a (0.32 m/century) since 1911. A further rise of 0.7±0.4 m is projected over the next 100 years. When differenced from tidal predictions, the water-level data provide a 90-year record of storm-surge occurrence. Combined with wind, wave hindcast, and sea-ice data, this provides a catalogue of potentially significant coastal storms. We also document coastal impacts from three recent storms of great severity in January and October 2000 and November 2001. Digital photogrammetry (1935–1990) and shore-zone surveys (1989–2001) show large spatial and temporal variance in coastal recession rates, weakly correlated with the storm record, in part because of wave suppression or coastal protection by sea ice. Large storms cause rapid erosion from which recovery depends in part on local sand supply, but barrier volume may be conserved by washover deposition. Barrier shores with dunes show high longshore and interdecadal variance, with extensive multidecadal healing of former inlet and overwash gaps. This reflects recovery from an episode of widespread overwash prior to 1935, possibly initiated by intense storms or groups of storms in the latter half of the 19th century. With evidence from the storms of 2000–2001, this points to the importance of storm clustering on scales of weeks to years in determining erosion vulnerability, as well as the need for a long-term, large-scale perspective in assessing coastal stability. The expected acceleration in relative sea-level rise, together with projections of increasing storm intensity and greatly diminished winter ice cover in the southern GSL, implies a significant increase in coastal erosion hazards in future.     

Numerical Simulation of Extreme Sea Levels for the Tamil Nadu (India) and Sri Lankan Coasts

Numerical modeling of extreme sea levels associated with tropical cyclones in the Indian seas has been confined to the northern part of the Bay of Bengal (north of Tamil Nadu). However, limited attempts have been made for modeling of surges along the Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan coasts. Although, very rarely, cyclones form south of 10°N, there are some instances of severe cyclonic storms hitting these areas and causing widespread destruction to life and property. Keeping this in view, a suitable location-specific, high-resolution, numerical model has been developed for the prediction of storm surges in these regions with a grid resolution of 3 km. Using the model, numerical experiments are performed to simulate the storm surge associated with the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone, the 1978 Batticaloa cyclone, the 1992 Tuticorin cyclone, the 1993 Karaikal cyclone, and the 1994 Madras cyclone. During the years 1964, 1978, and 1992, the cyclones struck both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coasts, while in 1993 and 1994, the cyclones struck only the Tamil Nadu coast. It is found that the computed sea surface elevations are in close agreement with the available observations/estimates.     

东南沿海台风风暴潮特点及其变化规律

本文收集了1949-1990年的台风及相应验潮站的实测潮位资料，计算分析了连云港至汕头之间沿海港口的热带气旋增水，得出了东南沿海各港口的增水特征。该海域风暴潮强度较大，易形成特大潮灾，各港口最大增水出现时间不一，有的在热带气旋登陆前，有的在热带气旋登陆后，多数在热带气旋登陆前后0-6h。台风及风暴潮易造成舰船、码头等损坪，形成非战斗力减员。     

Numerical Simulation of Extreme Sea Levels for the Tamil Nadu (India) and Sri Lankan Coasts

Numerical modeling of extreme sea levels associated with tropical cyclones in the Indian seas has been confined to the northern part of the Bay of Bengal (north of Tamil Nadu). However, limited attempts have been made for modeling of surges along the Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan coasts. Although, very rarely, cyclones form south of 10°N, there are some instances of severe cyclonic storms hitting these areas and causing widespread destruction to life and property. Keeping this in view, a suitable location-specific, high-resolution, numerical model has been developed for the prediction of storm surges in these regions with a grid resolution of 3 km. Using the model, numerical experiments are performed to simulate the storm surge associated with the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone, the 1978 Batticaloa cyclone, the 1992 Tuticorin cyclone, the 1993 Karaikal cyclone, and the 1994 Madras cyclone. During the years 1964, 1978, and 1992, the cyclones struck both Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu coasts, while in 1993 and 1994, the cyclones struck only the Tamil Nadu coast. It is found that the computed sea surface elevations are in close agreement with the available observations/estimates.     

洋山港海域一次冷锋型温带风暴潮特征及各影响因子贡献的对比分析

本文研究了由2020年12月29日至31日强冷锋引起的影响洋山港海域的温带风暴潮过程。通过气象观测数据分析了其天气过程, 并利用FVCOM-SWAVE波浪-风暴潮耦合模式对该过程进行了高分辨率的数值模拟, 同时结合潮位站及浮标站观测数据对模拟结果进行了验证, 分析模拟了波浪、潮流、风暴增减水特征。结果发现, 该次冷锋型温带风暴潮过程主要表现为先短时风暴增水后出现长时间风暴减水的特征, 最大风暴减水可达65~70cm, 其主要诱因包括研究海域气压的快速升高并维持、长时间持续的偏北大风及波流相互作用。相关敏感试验研究了3种因子对风暴增减水位的贡献大小, 发现风暴增水峰值期间风场贡献占比约为90%, 海平面气压场约为5%; 风暴减水峰值期间, 海平面气压场的贡献度约占55%, 风场约占40%, 而波浪的贡献均不足10%。洋山港航道内风暴期间潮流流速最大可达到2.6~2.8m•s^-1, 落潮时为东南向离岸潮流, 涨潮时为西至西北方向的外海潮波传入潮流; 洋山港航道潮流始终是东南或西北向, 此处流速辐合, 是洋山海域流速最高的区域。     

Cyclone induced storm surge and flood forecasting in the northern Bay of Bengal

A cyclone induced storm surge and flood forecasting system that has been developed for the northern Bay of Bengal is presented. The developed system includes a cyclone forecasting model that uses statistical models for forecasting of the cyclone track and maximum wind speed, and an analytical cyclone model for generation of cyclone wind and pressure fields. A data assimilation system has been developed that allows updating of the cyclone parameters based on air pressure and wind speed observations from surface meteorological stations. The forecasted air pressure and wind fields are used as input in a 2D hydrodynamic model for forecasting storm surge levels and associated flooding. An efficient uncertainty prediction procedure based on Harr's point estimation method has been implemented as part of the forecasting system for prediction of the uncertainties of the forecasted storm surge levels and inundation areas caused by the uncertainties in the cyclone track and wind speed forecasts. The developed system is applied on a severe cyclone that hit Bangladesh in April 1991. The simulated storm surge and associated flooding are highly sensitive to the cyclone data. The cyclone data assimilation system provides a more accurate cyclone track when the cyclone approaches the coastline, which results in a significant improvement of the storm surge and flood predictions. Application of the uncertainty prediction procedure shows that the large uncertainties of the cyclone track and intensity forecasts result in large uncertainties of the forecasted storm surge levels and flood extend. The forecasting system shows very good forecasting capabilities up to 24 h before the actual landfall.     

Role of the Ocean in Maintaining the North-Atlantic Oscillation

Based on the data on the sea-surface temperature (SST), the heat content of the upper 200-m layer, and the sea-level pressure, we analyze the low-frequency variability of the SST and heat content in the North Atlantic in 1950–1992 and the index of North-Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in 1940–1995. It is confirmed that the role of the ocean and various mechanisms controlling the variability of SST changes for processes corresponding to different time scales (interannual, decadal, and interdecadal). It is shown that the interaction of tropical and subtropical latitudes is of principal importance on the interannual scale, the processes regulating the variability of subtropical gyre are important on the decadal scale, and the variations of the NAO with lower frequencies are controlled by the oceanic variability at high latitudes. We discuss possible feedbacks in the ocean–atmosphere system maintaining the NAO.     

Study of the mutual influence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation processes and the North Atlantic and Arctic Oscillations

On the basis of the nonlinear techniques for the estimation of coupling between oscillatory systems from time series, we investigate the dynamics of climatic modes characterizing global and Northern Hemisphere (NH) processes. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation indices and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices are analyzed in terms of the most reliable data from 1950 through 2004 and earlier data since the 19th century. These indices characterize changes in NH atmospheric pressure (specifically, sea-level pressure in the North Atlantic and NH extratropical latitudes as a whole) and in equatorial Pacific sea-surface temperature and sea-level pressure to which the strongest variations of global surface temperature and global climate on interannual time scales and of regional climatic anomalies in the NH are linked. The methods used are based on phase-dynamics modeling and nonlinear prediction models (a nonlinear version of Granger causality). From both methods and various ENSO indices, the inference about the ENSO effect on the NAO during the latter half of the 20th century and in the early 21st century is made with confidence probability of at least 0.95. The influence is characterized by a time delay of about two years. No inverse influence is found with a similar degree of reliability. Results of estimating the coupling between the ENSO and the NAO depend on the type of index that is used to describe the NAO. The ENSO effect on the NAO is detected with sufficient confidence when the NAO index is chosen to be a larger scale characteristic. However, when a more local index of the NAO is used, no statistically significant coupling to the ENSO is found. Increasing the length of the analyzed ENSO and NAO series (over more than 100 yr) does not lead to any more reliable detection of coupling. Analysis of the data for different time intervals during 1950–2004 has revealed a strengthening of the ENSO effect on the NAO, although this inference is not reliable.     

台风海面风场动力诊断模式的建立与模拟计算

本文总结和归纳了已有的台风海面风场模式,按照风场模式物理背景的不同进行了分类．在此基础上,本文选择并建立了一种新的台风海面风场动力诊断模式．首先,利用台风影响范围内某条具有代表性的闭合等压线的拟合方程表示出台风海面气压场,并利用改进的气压场模式和修正的梯度风方程求得台风系统风场,同时还利用宫崎正卫的热带气旋合成风假设建立移行台风风场．然后将两者作权重订正后进行迭加,即得到台风模型风场．该模式考虑了包括台风气压场的非对称性、边界层摩擦效用、气压梯度的切向变化及台风中心移动的影响等多种因素．经过对0519号“龙王”台风的模拟,结果表明本文所建立的台风风场模式可以比较准确的模拟出非圆对称的台风海面气压场和海面风场,较为真实地反映实际台风风场的特征．     

基于PMIP2气候模式模拟的中全新世北大西洋涛动

根据PMIP2中的4个海气耦合模式对中全新世气候的模拟结果,利用现代和中全新世两个时间段的冬季海平面气压场(SLP),分析了北大西洋海平面气压的变化情况并计算了这两个时间段的北大西洋涛动(NAO)指数。结果表明,中全新世亚速尔高压加强,冰岛低压加深,南北气压差增加,NAO强度显著增强。对中全新世北大西洋地区SLP进行经验正交函数(EOF)分析显示,4个模式均能捕捉到了NAO的主要结构。中全新世NAO处于正位相的时间较现代提高了10%~30%,其中MIROC3.2提高了29.3%;虽然NAO指数振幅变化不大,但还是能显示中全新世NAO显著强于现代,这与地质资料恢复的结果相一致。对NAO指数的多窗谱分析显示,现代NAO指数存在3~5 a的准周期变化,中全新世NAO指数存在3 a的准周期变化。NAO对中全新世亚洲地区冬季增温有重要影响。北大西洋地区中纬度海面温度(SST)的增温可能是导致中全新世NAO强度增强的一个重要因素。     

Historical storminess and climate ‘see-saws’ in the North Atlantic region

The existence of a well-defined climate ‘see-saw’ across the North Atlantic region and surrounding areas has been known for over 200 years. The occurrence of severe winters in western Greenland frequently coincides with mild winters in northern Europe. Conversely, mild winters in western Greenland are frequently associated with cold winters across northern Europe. Whereas this ‘see-saw’ is normally discussed in terms of air temperature and pressure differences, here we explore how the climate ‘see-saw’ is reflected in records of historic storminess from Scotland, NW Ireland and Iceland. It is concluded that the stormiest winters in these regions during the last ca. 150 years have occurred when western Greenland temperatures have been significantly below average. In contrast, winters of reduced storminess have coincided with winters when air temperatures have been significantly above average in western Greenland. This reconstruction of winter storminess implies a relationship between chronologies of coastal erosion and the history of North Atlantic climate ‘see-saw’ dynamics with sustained winter storminess, and hence increased coastal erosion, taking place when the Icelandic low pressure cell is strongly anchored within the circulation of the northern hemisphere. Considered over the last ca. 2000 years, it would appear that winter storminess and climate-driven coastal erosion was at a minimum during the Medieval Warm Period. By contrast, the time interval from ca. AD 1420 until present has been associated with sustained winter storminess across the North Atlantic that has resulted in accelerated coastal erosion and sand drift.     

Long-term sea-level variability in the eastern South Atlantic and a comparison with that in the eastern Pacific

The data set of pressure-corrected monthly mean sea level from sites on the coast of the eastern South Atlantic Ocean has now been extended to cover the years from 1959 to 1985. The length of this data set is now comparable to those used in studies of long-term variability in sea level in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Comparison of the data sets reveals a qualitative agreement in the character of the variability in sea level between the two oceans. In particular, the possibility of high sea-level events propagating polewards from the equatorial Atlantic in the manner of the Pacific El Niño is explored and confirmed. The sea-level record, supported by evidence from published studies of variability in sea surface temperature, shows that the years 1963, 1974 and 1984 should be considered to be years of anomalously high sea level along the entire eastern South Atlantic Ocean.     

Quantifying the potential impact of land cover changes due to sea-level rise on storm surge on lower Texas coast bays

In this study we investigated the impacts of potential changes of land cover due to sea-level rise (SLR) on storm surge (i.e., the rise of water above normal sea level, namely mean-sea level and the astronomical tide, caused by hurricane winds and pressure) response inside bays on the lower Texas coast. We applied a hydrodynamic and wave model (ADCIRC + SWAN) forced by hurricane wind and pressure fields to quantify the importance of SLR-induced land cover changes, considering its impacts by changing bottom friction and the transfer of wind momentum to the water column, on the peak surge inside coastal bays. The SLR increments considered, 0.5 m to 2.0 m, significantly impacted the surge response inside the bays. The contribution of land cover changes due to SLR to the surge response, on average, ranged from a mean surge increase of 2% (SLR of 0.5 m) to 15% (SLR of 2.0 m), in addition to the SLR increments. The increase in surge response strongly depended on storm condition, with larger increases for more intense storms, and geographical location. Although land cover changes had little impact on the surge increase for SLR increments lower than 1.0 m, intense storms resulted in surge increase of up to 10% even for SLR below 1.0 m, but in most cases, the geometry changes were the major factor impacting the surge response due to SLR. We also found a strong relationship between changes in bottom friction and the surge response intensification; demonstrating the importance of considering land cover changes in coastal regions that are highly susceptible to SLR when planning for climate change.     

一种新型的非对称台风海面气压场和风场模型

采用台风外围闭合特征等压线等要素,对圆对称的藤田气压模型进行改进,推导出不含有关参数的非对称台风海面气压场和考虑到径向梯度风的风场模型,并利用该模型对给湛江地区造成了严重风暴潮灾的几次台风过程的海面气压场和风场进行了模拟。结果表明,改进后的台风气压场和风场模型更方便准确。     

海滩风暴效应若干问题思考与我国研究前景

热带风暴是一种频发的灾害性事件,其诱发的大浪及其伴生的风暴潮会在短时间内搬运大量沉积物,对海岸地貌、海底地形和海洋沉积的影响极为严重.总结了未来风暴变化趋势和风暴动力方面的研究进展,概述了近几十年来海滩风暴效应领域几个重要方向的进展,内容包括岸滩风暴灾害调查和研究、海滩风暴效应差异性研究、风暴作用下的泥沙运动和岸滩风暴响应沉积学特征等方面.从国内外的研究现状来看,我国在风暴作用下泥沙运动实测与定量分析、多因素耦合控制下海滩风暴效应差异和海滩风暴地貌过程等方面存在着明显的不足.作为我国海岸科学研究中必需又薄弱的环节,今后该领域的研究应该在强化野外现场实验和监测的基础上,深入探讨极端条件下的海滩过程,发展海滩风暴响应预测模型,并积极开展海滩风暴潮防护技术开发与应用.     

2016与1998年春季北大西洋海表温度异常的差异及成因

利用再分析资料以及混合层海温诊断方程, 研究1997—1998与2015—2016年超级厄尔尼诺次年北大西洋海表温度异常(sea surface temperature anomalies, SSTA)的差异及成因。结果显示, 北大西洋SSTA在1998年春季呈明显正负正三极型式分布, 而在2016年呈弱的负正负型态。诊断热带北大西洋SSTA的影响因素表明, 1998年春季暖SSTA除了之前研究强调的海洋表面向大气的潜热输送异常减少, 以及吸收太阳辐射的增加外, 海洋动力过程即Ekman纬向漂流也起着重要的作用。热力过程与厄尔尼诺峰值后出现的北大西洋涛动(North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO)负位相有关, 其可引起亚速尔高压减弱, 产生西南风异常, 通过风-蒸发-海表温度(sea surface temperature, SST)反馈机制使热带北大西洋蒸发减弱, 海表增暖, 沃克环流下沉支的东移对这一增暖也有贡献。与1997—1998厄尔尼诺事件不同, 2015—2016厄尔尼诺事件没有强迫出负位相NAO, 而是出现弱NAO正位相, 热带北大西洋为弱的东风异常, 使海表发生一定的冷却, 形成2016春季北大西洋SSTA与1998年的明显差异。