Open-File Report 2008–1365
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of 117 pressure transducers (sensors) at 65 sites over an area of about 5,000 square miles to record the timing, areal extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Ike, which struck southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana September 12–13, 2008. Fifty-six sites were in Texas and nine were in Louisiana. Sites were categorized as surge, riverine, or beach/wave on the basis of proximity to the Gulf Coast. One-hundred five sensors from 59 sites (fig. 1) were recovered; 12 sensors from six sites either were lost during the storm or were not retrieved. All 59 sites (41 surge, 10 riverine, 8 beach/wave) had sensors to record water pressure (fig. 2), which is expressed as water level in feet above North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), and 46 sites had an additional sensor to record barometric pressure, expressed in pounds per square inch. Figure 3 shows an example of water level and barometric pressure over time recorded by sensors during the storm.
Figure 1. Sensor sites from which storm-surge data were obtained during Hurricane Ike.
Data were collected and processed following protocols established by McGee and others (2005), which included correcting water pressure for changes in barometric pressure and salinity. Quality-control checks were made by colocating water-level sensors at a subset of sites and comparing data from those sensors to water levels computed from recorded pressure data at those sites; and by comparing water levels computed from recorded pressure data to water levels recorded at nearby USGS gaging stations and to independent high-water marks where possible. Elevation surveys using global positioning systems (fig. 4) and differential levels were done to relate all water-level data, reference marks, benchmarks, and sensor measuring points to NAVD88.
Table 1. Hurricane Ike storm-surge data for 59 sites in Texas and Louisiana, September 2008.
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First posted December 12, 2008 For additional information contact: Jeffery W. East, or Director, Texas Water Science Center Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge. |
East, J.W., Turco, M.J., and Mason, R.R., Jr., 2008, Monitoring inland storm surge and flooding from Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana, September 2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008–1365 [https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1365/].
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