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Long‐term rainfall risk from tropical cyclones in coastal areas
Author(s) -
Langousis Andreas,
Veneziano Daniele
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2008wr007624
Subject(s) - tropical cyclone , climatology , tropical cyclone rainfall forecasting , storm , precipitation , environmental science , meteorology , wind speed , return period , atmospheric sciences , geology , cyclone (programming language) , geography , flood myth , archaeology , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
We develop a methodology for the frequency of extreme rainfall intensities caused by tropical cyclones (TCs) in coastal areas. The model does not account for landfall effects. This makes the developed framework best suited for open water sites and coastal areas with flat topography. The mean rainfall field associated with a TC with maximum tangential wind speed V max , radius of maximum winds R max , and translation speed V t is obtained using a physically based model, whereas rainfall variability at both large scales (from storm to storm) and small scales (due to rainbands and local convection) is modeled statistically. The statistical component is estimated using precipitation radar data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission. Taylor's hypothesis is used to convert spatial rainfall intensity fluctuations to temporal fluctuations at a given location A. The combined physical‐statistical model gives the distribution of the maximum rainfall intensity at A during an averaging period D for a TC with characteristics ( V max , R max , V t ) that passes at a given distance from A. To illustrate the use of the model for long‐term rainfall risk analysis, we formulate a recurrence model for tropical cyclones in the Gulf of Mexico that make landfall between longitudes 85° and 95°W. We then use the rainfall and recurrence models to assess the rainfall risk for New Orleans. For return periods of 100 years or more and long averaging durations ( D around 12–24 h), tropical cyclones dominate over other rainfall event types, whereas the reverse is true for shorter return periods or shorter averaging durations.