Wind Surge: Interactive On-line Mac and PC
This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection.
HideThis material is replicated on a number of sites as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service Project
Summary
Wind surge (more info) is a JAVA based applet for exploring how water level on the windward and leeward side of a basin depends on wind speed, basin length, water depth, and boundary type. Theoretical discussion is provided.
Learning Goals
See Wind surge (more info)
Context for Use
This Applet can be useful when studying Hurricanes and storm surge in an introductory geoscience course.
Teaching Materials
See Wind surge (more info)
Teaching Notes and Tips
See Wind surge (more info)
Assessment
Student problem: Assess the effect of varying the windspeed on the surge elevations for a given basin geometry. Do the same with the water depth and basin length for a fixed wind speed. Plot your results.
Student problem: Examine the influence of the end wall. Find a basin size and wind speed such that a given wall height is overtopped (note: if overtopping occurs, the word 'overtopping' is written next to the eta(l) value.) Then, increase the wall elevation until overtopping stops. Explain the difference in results.
Both of these student problems were suggested by Robert A. Dalrymple, Center for Applied Coastal Research,University of Delaware, Newark DE 19716,USA
