Numerical investigation on storm surge characteristics would benefit the planners and designers of coastal structures and offshore platforms along the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin. The adjoining coastline has a wide range of geomorphological features and varying geometries due to the sediment deposition from the two major rivers, Krishna and Godavari. Two severe cyclonic storms (SCS) Laila (2010) and Helen (2013) that approached the basin from two different directions and made landfalls closer to each other were analyzed for determining the storm surge heights and currents along the K-G river basin. The maximum water elevations and maximum currents during the storm event and evolution of storm surge heights at different locations were studied. It could be concluded from the study that when a SCS event approaches K-G basin, in addition to the tide and wave effect, a maximum storm surge height and current of 1 m and 1.2 m/s can be expected along the coast, respectively. Similarly, the surge and current in the offshore regions were found to be 0.3 m and 0.8 m/s, respectively. These values may be considered while deriving design parameters for the offshore installations. The critical regions in the basin were identified where high surge heights and currents are expected.
The storm surge and hydrodynamics along the Krishna-Godavari (K-G) basin are examined based on numerical experiments designed from assessing the landfalling cyclones in Bay of Bengal (BoB) over the past 38 years with respect to its highest maximum sustained wind speed and its duration. The model is validated with the observed water levels at the tide gauge stations at Visakhapatnam during Helen (2013) and Hudhud (2014). Effect of gradual and rapid intensification of cyclones on the peak water levels and depth average currents are examined and the vulnerable locations are identified. The duration of intensification of a rapidly intensifying cyclone over the continental shelf contributed to about 10-18 % increase in the peak water levels, whereas for the gradually intensifying cyclone the effect is trivial. The inclusion of the wave-setup increased the peak water levels up to 39% compared to those without wave-setup. In the deep water region, only rapidly intensifying cyclones affected the peak MWEs. Intensification over the continental slope region significantly increases the currents along the shelf region and coast. The effect on peak maximum depth averaged current extends up to 400 km from the landfall location. Thus, it is necessary to consider the effect of various combinations of the highest cyclone intensity and duration of intensification for identifying the worst scenarios for impact assessment of coastal processes and sediment transport. The study is quite useful in improving the storm surge prediction, in preparedness, risk evaluation, and vulnerability assessment of the coastal regions in the present changing climate.
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