Long wave generation and coastal amplification due to propagating atmospheric pressure disturbances

Abstract

Abstract Meteotsunamis are long waves generated by displacement of a water body due to atmospheric pressure disturbances that have similar spatial and temporal characteristics to landslide tsunamis. NAMI DANCE that solves the nonlinear shallow water equations is a widely used numerical model to simulate tsunami waves generated by seismic origin. Several validation studies showed that it is highly capable of representing the generation, propagation and nearshore amplification processes of tsunami waves, including inundation at complex topography and basin resonance. The new module of NAMI DANCE that uses the atmospheric pressure and wind forcing as the other inputs to simulate meteotsunami events is developed. In this paper, the analytical solution for the generation of ocean waves due to the propagating atmospheric pressure disturbance is obtained. The new version of the code called NAMI DANCE SUITE is validated by comparing its results with those from analytical solutions on the flat bathymetry. It is also shown that the governing equations for long wave generation by atmospheric pressure disturbances in narrow bays and channels can be written similar to the 1D case studied for tsunami generation and how it is integrated into the numerical model. The analytical solution of the linear shallow water model is defined, and results are compared with numerical solutions. A rectangular shaped flat bathymetry is used as the test domain to model the generation and propagation of ocean waves and the development of Proudman resonance due to moving atmospheric pressure disturbances. The simulation results with different ratios of pressure speed to ocean wave speed (Froude numbers) considering sub-critical, critical and super-critical conditions are presented. Fairly well agreements between analytical solutions and numerical solutions are obtained. Additionally, basins with triangular (lateral) and stepwise shelf (longitudinal) cross sections on different slopes are tested. The amplitudes of generated waves at different time steps in each simulation are presented with discussions considering the channel characteristics. These simulations present the capability of NAMI DANCE SUITE to model the effects of bathymetric conditions such as shelf slope and local bathymetry on wave amplification due to moving atmospheric pressure disturbances.