Example Hurricane Katrina Simulation

Hurricane Katrina – Storm Surge
August 28-29, 2005

 

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This storm surge information is based on computer simulations using the coastal circulation/water level model ADCIRC. This computer model has been developed by Dr. Rick Luettich @ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, and by Dr. Joannes Westerink @ University of Notre Dame, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Geologic Sciences. Inputs to the model include the coastline geometry, water depths, land elevations and obstructions, land types and hurricane winds (NOAA HWinds) and pressures.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The ADCIRC model has been run for many historical hurricanes and computed surges have compared favorably with measured water levels. However, no systematic attempt has been made to verify the surges computed for Hurricane Katrina. In these runs, one of the largest areas of uncertainty in the surge computations is the hurricane wind field. 

Northern Gulf of Mexico zoom – avi animation (28 Mbytes) 

Southern Louisiana zoom – avi animation (42 Mbytes)

 

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If you have questions or comments, please contact Rick Luettich (rick_luettich@unc.edu).