Assessing Storm Surge Multi-Scenarios based on Ensemble Tropical Cyclone
Forecasting
Abstract
Ensemble forecasting is a promising tool to aid in making informed
decisions against risks of coastal storm surges. Although tropical
cyclone (TC) ensemble forecasts are commonly used in operational
numerical weather prediction systems, their potential for disaster
prediction has not been maximized. Here we present a novel, efficient,
and practical method to utilize a large ensemble forecast of 1000
members to analyze storm surge scenarios toward effective decision
making such as evacuation planning and issuing surge warnings. We
perform the simulation of TC Hagibis (2019) using the Japan
Meteorological Agency’s (JMA) non-hydrostatic model. The simulated
atmospheric predictions were utilized as inputs for a statistical surge
model named the Storm Surge Hazard Potential Index (SSHPI) to estimate
peak surge heights along the central coast of Japan. We show that Pareto
optimized solutions from an ensemble storm surge forecast can describe
potential worst (maximum) and optimum (minimum) storm surge scenarios
while exemplifying a diversity of trade-off surge outcomes among
different coastal places. For example, some of the Pareto optimized
solutions that illustrate worst surge scenarios for inner bay locations
are not necessarily accountable for bringing severe surge cases in open
coasts. We further emphasize that an in-depth evaluation of Pareto
optimal solutions can shed light on how meteorological variables such as
track, intensity, and size of TCs influence the worst and optimum surge
scenarios, which is not clearly quantified in current multi-scenario
assessment methods such as those used by JMA/National Hurricane Center
in the United States.