An empirical relationship for typhoon property and ITS corresponding typhoon-surge height

An empirical formula for typhoon-surge height at Ken-Fang Tidal Station was proposed in the present paper, basing on its corresponding typhoon property. The typhoon property analyzed in the present paper includes the typhoon-center atmospheric pressure, the typhoon-near-center wind speed, typhoon-storm radius, the typhoon distance from the typhoon center to the considered tidal station where typhoon surge is measured, and the typhoon-moving track against Taiwan Island. The study reveals that the higher the typhoon-center atmospheric pressure, the larger typhoon-near-center wind speed and the bigger typhoon-surge height; the smaller the typhoon distance, the larger the typhoon surge height. The proposed empirical relationship of typhoon surge height includes three typhoon variables, such as the typhoon wind speed, the typhoon storm radius, and the typhoon distance, as well as three empirical coefficients to be determined. The three empirical coefficients were then analyzed, based on the 19 sets of measured typhoon-surge data at the Ken-Fang Tidal Station in I-Lan County, eastern Taiwan between 1991 and 2001 through a regression analysis. Two storm surges measured at the Ken -Fang Station, caused by Typhoon Herb (1996) and Typhoon Doug (1994), were simulated by the proposed formula as well as by a numerical model of Ou et al. (1999) for comparison. The comparison reveals that the proposed empirical formula has an acceptable success in storm-surge prediction at least at the Ken -Fang Station.