Extreme wind speeds for the South-West Indian Ocean using synthetic tropical cyclone tracks

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Tropical cyclones are synoptic scale rotating storms capable of generating intense wind speeds and rainfall with potentially devastating social and economic consequences. In addition to abnormally high winds and rainfall, the associated storm surge and extreme waves can lead to severe coastal erosion, damage to coastal property and inundation. A good understanding of the risk exposure to these events is therefore of great importance to planners and designers of coastal infrastructure in vulnerable regions.Probabilistic approaches have been routinely adopted for the calculation of extreme tropical cyclone induced wind speeds, with significant developments in these techniques over the last few decades. While the application of these approaches has become widely adopted in regions such as the North Atlantic, North Pacific and South Pacific Oceans, relatively little attention has been paid to the South-West Indian Ocean. This thesis focusses on the quantification of the risk exposure to tropical cyclones over the South-West Indian Ocean, using current state-of-the-art techniques. The primary results of the thesis are extreme wind speed maps at various return periods of interest for engineering design.Best track data for the South-West Indian Ocean, as archived by the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC), has been used as the primary dataset forming the basis of this study. These data provide estimates of the location and intensity of historical tropical cyclones at six hourly intervals. Location data are provided as estimates of longitude and latitude of the eye, while intensity data are provided as estimates of the maximum sustained surface (10 m elevation) wind speed and/or minimum central pressure.The modelling of tropical cyclone wind fields has been carried out using both the Holland (1980) and the Willoughby et al. (2006) parametric wind field models. Using the limited information available in the best track data as input to the model, surface wind fields which reasonably resemble those of actual storms have been generated. Both considered parametric wind field models have been shown to yield reasonable wind speeds and directions when compared with measurements. Of the two considered models the Willoughby et al. (2006) model has been shown to provide the best fit to historical wind speed measurements.Extreme value analyses of tropical cyclone induced wind speeds based on historical data alone have been shown to lead to potentially large errors, owing to the small sample size of the historical data. This highlights the need to augment the historical database through a probabilistic approach. Largely following the methods described in Powel et al. (2005) and Emanuel et al. (2006), a synthetic track model for the South-West Indian Ocean has been developed. The objective of the synthetic track model is to simulate thousands of years of tropical cyclone tracks, thereby circumventing errors induced by small sample sizes in the available historical best track data. The synthetic track model developed as part of this study is a Markov chain model, capable of simulating track propagation and intensity evolution along the track, from track genesis through to termination. The model is purely statistical, based on properties derived from the historical best track data. Adjustments have however been made to account for physical limitations such as those imposed by the equator and the maximum potential intensity which an event can attain. The statistical characteristics of synthetic tracks have been shown to agree well with those of the historical population.Applying the Willoughby et al. (2006) wind field model along synthetic tracks has enabled the simulation of 5 000 years of tropical cyclone induced wind speeds at any location of interest in the South-West Indian Ocean. Applying calculations on a 1 degree geographical grid, wind speed maps corresponding to return periods of 50, 100, 200 and 500 years have been generated for the South-West Indian Ocean. Extreme wind speeds along coastal regions provide valuable input for the design of coastal infrastructure in the region.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University