Rapidly installed temporary gauging for hurricane waves and surge, and application to Hurricane Gustav

Hurricanes can produce extreme nearshore waves and surge, but permanent gauging stations are often much sparser than is desired. This paper describes the rationale behind and outline for rapidly installed temporary coastal gauges, and presents results during Hurricane Gustav (2008). Within 48h prior to landfall, twenty self-recording pressure gauges were deployed in depths of 1.4–23m over more than 700km of coastline, using helicopters to cover the large distances. Results showed a complex picture that was strongly dependent on location. East of the Mississippi Delta, open coast waves were large, and surge reached 3.8m NAVD88 in marshes. West of the delta but near landfall, waves and surge were generally smaller as the river levees blocked flow from East to West. West of landfall, both waves and surge were very small and the most prominent feature was a water level drawdown that reached 1.5m. Wave spectra varied strongly depending both on location and time from landfall.