Response of west Indian coastal regions and Kavaratti lagoon to the November-2009 tropical cyclone Phyan

Antony Joseph (), R. Prabhudesai, Prakash Mehra, V. Sanil Kumar, K. Radhakrishnan, Vijay Kumar, K. Ashok Kumar, Yogesh Agarwadekar, U. Bhat, Ryan Luis, Pradhan Rivankar and Blossom Viegas

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2011, vol. 57, issue 2, 293-312

Abstract: Response of the coastal regions of eastern Arabian Sea (AS) and Kavaratti Island lagoon in the AS to the tropical cyclonic storm `Phyan’, which developed in winter in the south-eastern AS and swept northward along the eastern AS during 9–12 November 2009 until its landfall at the northwest coast of India, is examined based on in situ and satellite-derived measurements. Wind was predominantly south/south-westerly and the maximum wind speed (U 10 ) of ~16 m/s occurred at Kavaratti Island region followed by ~8 m/s at Dwarka (Gujarat) and ~7 m/s at Diu (located south of Dwarka) as well as two southwest Indian coastal locations (Mangalore and Malpe). All other west Indian coastal sites recorded maximum wind speed of ~5–6 m/s. Gust factor (i.e., gust-to-speed ratio) during peak storm event was highly variable with respect to topography, with steep hilly stations (Karwar and Ratnagiri) and proximate thick and tall vegetation-rich site (Kochi) exhibiting large values (~6), whereas Island station (Kavaratti) exhibiting ~1 (indicating consistently steady wind). Rainfall in association with Phyan was temporally scattered, with the highest 24-h accumulated precipitation (~60 mm) at Karwar and ~45 mm at several other west Indian coastal sites. Impact of Phyan on the west Indian coastal regions was manifested in terms of intensified significant waves (~2.2 m at Karwar and Panaji), sea surface cooling (~5°C at Calicut), and moderate surge (~50 cm at Verem, Goa). The surface waves were south-westerly and the peak wave period (T p ) shortened from ~10–17 s to ~5–10 s during Phyan, indicating their transition from the long-period `swell’ to the short-period `sea’. Reduction in the spread of the mean wave period (T z ) from ~5–10 s to a steady period of ~6 s was another manifestation of the influence of the cyclone on the surface wave field. Several factors such as (1) water piling-up at the coast supported by south/south-westerly wind and seaward flow of the excess water in the rivers due to heavy rains, (2) reduction of piling-up at the coast, supported by the upstream penetration of seawater into the rivers, and (3) possible interaction of upstream flow with river run-off, together resulted in the observed moderate surge at the west Indian coast. Despite the intense wind forcing, Kavaratti Island lagoon experienced insignificantly weak surge (~7 cm) because of lack of river influx and absence of a sufficiently large land boundary required for the generation and sustenance of wave/wind-driven water mass piling-up at the land–sea interface. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Keywords: Cyclonic storm ‘Phyan’; Internet-accessible network; Wind; Gust; Waves; Cooling; Rainfall; Storm surge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-010-9613-7

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