IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v106y2021i2d10.1007_s11069-020-04328-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Convective rear-flank downdraft as driver for meteotsunami along English Channel and North Sea coasts 28–29 May 2017

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew M. Sibley

    (Hazard Centre)

  • Dave Cox

    (Flood Forecasting Centre)

  • David R. Tappin

    (British Geological Survey
    University College London (UCL))

Abstract

We examine the physical processes that led to the meteotsunami observed along the English Channel and North Sea coasts on 29 May 2017. It was most notably reported along the Dutch coast, but also observed on tide gauges from the Channel Islands to the coast of Germany, and also those in eastern England. From an assessment of multiple observations, including rain radar, LIDAR, satellite, surface observations and radiosonde reports we conclude that the event was driven by a rear flank downdraft in association with a mesoscale convective system (MCS). This downdraft, from a medium level or elevated MCS, led to a hydrostatically forced internal or ducted gravity wave below the MCS. The gravity wave was manifested by a marked rise and fall in pressure, a meso-high, which then interacted with the sea surface through Proudman resonance causing a measured wave of close to 0.9 m in amplitude, and an estimated wave run-up on Dutch beaches of 2 m. Through examination of existing research, we show that the basic assumptions here relating to the formation of the Dutch meteotsunami are consistent with previously described physical processes, and confirm the correlation between the speed of the ocean wave and medium level steering winds. This raises the possibility that high-resolution, coupled, weather-ocean numerical weather prediction (NWP) models can be utilised to predict future events. However, deterministic high-resolution NWP models still struggle with modelling convective systems with sufficient precision because of the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and incomplete observations. A way forward is proposed here to improve forecasting through post-processing of NWP model output by overlaying medium level wind fields with ocean bathymetry.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew M. Sibley & Dave Cox & David R. Tappin, 2021. "Convective rear-flank downdraft as driver for meteotsunami along English Channel and North Sea coasts 28–29 May 2017," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1445-1465, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:106:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11069-020-04328-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-020-04328-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-020-04328-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-020-04328-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jadranka Šepić & Alexander Rabinovich, 2014. "Meteotsunami in the Great Lakes and on the Atlantic coast of the United States generated by the “derecho” of June 29–30, 2012," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 74(1), pages 75-107, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ivica Vilibić & Alexander B. Rabinovich & Eric J. Anderson, 2021. "Special issue on the global perspective on meteotsunami science: editorial," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1087-1104, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammad Hossein Kazeminezhad & Ivica Vilibić & Cléa Denamiel & Parvin Ghafarian & Samaneh Negah, 2021. "Weather radar and ancillary observations of the convective system causing the northern Persian Gulf meteotsunami on 19 March 2017," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1747-1769, March.
    2. Emile A. Okal, 2021. "On the possibility of seismic recording of meteotsunamis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1125-1147, March.
    3. Mohammad Heidarzadeh & Alexander B. Rabinovich, 2021. "Combined hazard of typhoon-generated meteorological tsunamis and storm surges along the coast of Japan," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1639-1672, March.
    4. Yang Wang & Xiaojing Niu & Zhengdong Yu & Xingyu Gao, 2021. "Numerical study on a possible cause of the ‘strange tide’ in the coastal area of Jiangsu Province, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1687-1701, March.
    5. Petra Zemunik & Angelo Bonanno & Salvatore Mazzola & Giovanni Giacalone & Ignazio Fontana & Simona Genovese & Gualtiero Basilone & Julio Candela & Jadranka Šepić & Ivica Vilibić & Salvatore Aronica, 2021. "Observing meteotsunamis (“Marrobbio”) on the southwestern coast of Sicily," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1337-1363, March.
    6. Wei Cheng & Juan Horrillo & Richards Sunny, 2022. "Numerical analysis of meteotsunamis in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 110(3), pages 1719-1734, February.
    7. Alexander B. Rabinovich & Jadranka Šepić & Richard E. Thomson, 2021. "The meteorological tsunami of 1 November 2010 in the southern Strait of Georgia: a case study," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1503-1544, March.
    8. Viacheslav K. Gusiakov, 2021. "Meteotsunamis at global scale: problems of event identification, parameterization and cataloguing," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1105-1123, March.
    9. M. Solovieva & A. Rozhnoi & S. Shalimov & G. Shevchenko & P. F. Biagi & V. Fedun, 2021. "The lower ionosphere disturbances observed during the chain of the meteotsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea in June 2014," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1383-1396, March.
    10. Myung-Seok Kim & Hyunmin Eom & Sung Hyup You & Seung-Buhm Woo, 2021. "Real-time pressure disturbance monitoring system in the Yellow Sea: pilot test during the period of March to April 2018," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1703-1728, March.
    11. Ivica Vilibić & Cléa Denamiel & Petra Zemunik & Sebastian Monserrat, 2021. "The Mediterranean and Black Sea meteotsunamis: an overview," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1223-1267, March.
    12. Michael Angove & Lewis Kozlosky & Philip Chu & Greg Dusek & Greg Mann & Eric Anderson & James Gridley & Diego Arcas & Vasily Titov & Marie Eble & Kimberly McMahon & Brian Hirsch & Walt Zaleski, 2021. "Addressing the meteotsunami risk in the united states," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(2), pages 1467-1487, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:106:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11069-020-04328-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.