Storm Surge Empirical Calculator

Calculates an estimation for the height of a storm surge, based on the mean sea level, fetch extent and incoming wind velocity.

%% Storm Surge Empirical Calculator
% J.McDowell, 07/12/18.
% Based on the equations of D. Lee Harris, Coastal Engineering, 1957.

% Calculates an estimation for the height of a storm surge, based on the
% mean sea level, fetch extent and incoming wind velocity. Useful as a
% strong first-pass approximation if no historic sea surface height/
% MetOcean data is available.

%% Example Input Calls
% [h] = stormsurge(MSL, X, wVel);
% [h] = stormsurge(MSL, X, wVel, C, wStr, pAir, pSW, g);
% [h] = stormsurge(MSL, X, wVel,[], [] , [] , [] ,[]);
% [h] = stormsurge(MSL, X, wVel,[], [] , pAir , [] ,[]);

%% Input Parameters
% h = Storm Surge Height, or height of water surface above the Equilibrium Plane (m).

% MSL = Mean Sea Level, or Equilibrium Depth of water when no wind is blowing. Required Input (m).
% X = Fetch distance in direction of Maximum Wind Velocity, or distance along the axis of channel with wind blowing towards positive X. Required Input (m).
% wVel = Maximum Wind Velocity for designated Fetch distance (X). Required Input (m/s).

% C = Y-intercept of free surface slope. Default as 0 unless designated by user (-).
% wStr = Wind Stress Coefficient. Default as 2 x 10^-3 unless designated by user (-).
% pAir = Density of Air. Default as 1.225 unless designated by user (kg/m^3).
% pSW = Density of (Sea) Water. Default as 1025 unless designated by user (kg/m^3).
% g = Acceleration due to Gravity. Default as 9.81 unless designated by user (m/s^2).