Tropical Cyclones and Storm Surge Modelling Activities

Abstract

The Global Disasters Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) automatically invokes ad hoc numerical models to analyse the level of the hazard of natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, floods and volcanoes. The Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are among the most damaging events, due to strong winds, heavy rains and storm surge. In order to estimate the area and the population affected, all three types of the above physical impacts must be taken into account. GDACS includes all these dangerous effects, using various sources of data. The JRC set up an automatic routine that includes the TC information provided by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) into a single database, covering all TCs basins. This information is used in GDACS for the wind impact and as input for the JRC storm surge system. Recently the global numerical models and other TC models have notably improved their resolutions, therefore one of the first aim of this work is the assessment and implementation of new data sources for the wind, storm surge and rainfall impacts in GDACS. Moreover the TC modelling workflow has been revised in order to provide redundancy, transparency and efficiency while addressing issues of accuracy and incorporation of additional physical processes. The status of development is presented along with the outline of future steps.