Tide and Storm Surge Predictions Using Finite Element Model

Abstract

A finite element (FE) model is used to study tides and hurricane storm surge in the Gulf of Mexico in the region ranging from the Mississippi Sound to the northwest coast of Florida. Issues that are emphasized include the use of large domains, the importance of a high degree of grid resolution in coastal regions of interest, the use of meshes with highly varying nodal densities to minimize the size of the discrete problem, and the use of the generalized wave‐continuity equation (GWCE) for FE‐based solutions to the shallow‐water equations. The computations presented are unprecedented in their scope, level of localized detail, and degree of grid‐size variability. The GWCE‐based FE model leads to very accurate and efficient flow solutions.