Past Event: Babuška Forum

Modeling Hurricane Storm Surge and Proposed Mitigation Systems in the Houston, TX Region

Clint Dawson, Professor, Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, ICES, UT Austin

Abstract

Since the 2005-2008 hurricane seasons, there has been extensive effort to understand and predict the impacts of hurricane-induced flooding on low-lying regions in the Gulf of Mexico. After Hurricane Ike in 2008, which made landfall at Galveston, TX, the Severe Storms Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters (SSPEED) Center was formed, including a consortium of major universities in Texas. The focus of the center was to study the socio-economic/environmental/structural impact and possible mitigation of hurricane storm surge in the Houston-Galveston region. As part of this effort, our group at the University of Texas performed extensive studies using the Advanced Circulation (ADCIRC) modeling framework. In this talk, we will discuss this framework, the validation of this model for historical hurricanes, and the application of the model to the study of potential storm mitigation systems, including structural and non-structural options. We will also discuss a number of other issues that arise in these types of studies, including political, environmental and socio-economic considerations. Bio: Dr. Dawson earned his Ph.D. in mathematical science from Rice University. He is a professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, leader of the ICES Computational Hydraulics Group and the graduate advisor of the ICES Computational Sciences, Engineering, and Mathematics graduate program. He holds the John McKetta Centennial Chair in Engineering. Dr. Dawson has authored or co-authored more than 125 technical articles in the areas of numerical analysis, numerical methods and parallel computing with applications to flow and transport in porous media, and shallow water systems.