Numerical simulations of morphological changes in barrier islands induced by storm surges and waves using a supercritical flow model

In this paper, an advanced explicit finite volume flow model in two-dimensions is presented for simulating supercritical coastal flows and morphological changes in a tidal/coastal inlet and barrier islands due to storm surges and waves. This flow model is coupled with existing wave-action model and sediment transport model. The resulting integrated coastal process model is capable of simulating flows induced by extreme conditions such as waves, surge tides, river flood flows, etc., and morphological changes induced by rapid coastal currents and waves. This developed supercritical flow model is based on the solution of the conservative form of the nonlinear shallow water equations with the effects of the Coriolis force, uneven bathymetry, wind stress, and wave radiation stresses. The forward Euler scheme is used for the unsteady term; and the convective term is discretized using the Godunov-type shockcapturing scheme along with the HLL Riemann solver on non-uniform rectilinear grids. The accuracy of the developed model is investigated by solving an experimental dam-break test case. Barrier island breaching, overflow and overwash due to severe storm attack are simulated and the predicted morphological changes associated to the events are analyzed to investigate the applicability of the model in a coast where all the physical forces are present.