Heron, Mal, Domps, Baptiste, Guerin, Charles Antoine, Wang, Manman, and Petersen, Leif (2024) HF Radar Real-Time Alert to a Tsunami-Like Disturbance at Tofino on January 5, 2020: Surge or Tsunami? IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 49 (1). pp. 105-113.

Preview

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (7MB) | Preview

 

7

Abstract

A real-time alert issued by a high frequency (HF) Wellen radar (WERA) at Tofino on January 5, 2020 was identified as a possible meteotsunami because of the anomalous surface currents. Reanalysis of the HF radar data and consideration of associated meteorological data from Global Forecast System North West Pacific forecasts, the GOES-17 weather satellite and the NDBC buoy at La Perouse, indicate that the anomaly in ocean currents was a combination of a wind setup at the coast over several preceding hours and an abrupt change in wind direction driven by the passage of a severe cold front. It is unlikely that the Proudman resonance condition between the wind speed and gravity wave phase velocity existed, except perhaps very close to the coast. The inclusion of the wind direction measurements by the HF radar will improve the real-time alerts at the coast by discriminating between tsunamis and wind-driven storm surge events.

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page