Premium
Ocean loading deformations caused by storm surges on the northwest European shelf
Author(s) -
Fratepietro F.,
Baker T. F.,
Williams S. D. P.,
Van Camp M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl025475
Subject(s) - storm surge , geology , storm , surge , continental shelf , geodetic datum , climatology , oceanography , geodesy , geomorphology
A model of the non‐tidal ocean loading deformations caused by storm surges on the northwest European shelf has been developed using the output from a 12 km grid storm surge model. The spatial distributions of displacements and gravity variations caused by a typical storm surge event are computed in order to show the magnitudes of the effects that can be expected in space geodetic or gravity measurements. A storm surge of just over 2 m in the southern North Sea produces vertical displacements of −20 to −30 mm and increases of gravity of 6 to 8 μgal in the coastal areas of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the east coast of England. It is shown that the loading deformations due to surges affect a wide area of northwest Europe and that high resolution non‐tidal loading models are required for correcting geodetic measurements made in areas near shallow continental shelves.