ERDC's Coastal Storm Modeling System (CSTORM-MS)

ERDC’s Coastal Storm 

Modeling System 

(CSTORM-MS) 

Chris Massey, PhD 

Research Mathematician 

Coastal & Hydraulics Lab 

Chris.Massey@usace.army.mil

ERDC’s Coastal Storm-Modeling System 

(ERDC CSTORM-MS) 

Application of high-resolution, highly skilled numerical models in 

a tightly integrated modeling system with user friendly interfaces 

Not just 

hurricanes and 

not just in the 

Gulf of Mexico. 

Expandable and 

upgradeable system. 

Next Generation Workflow 

Provides for a robust, standardized approach to establishing the risk 

of coastal communities to future occurrences of storm events. 

BUILDING STRONG ® 

Innovative solutions for a safer, better world 

Chris.Massey@usace.army.mil 

2

CSTORM-MS Spiral 1 

• Substantial advances in the state of the art have been made and 

these have played a critical role in supporting ERDC Action 2d of the 

USACE Campaign Plan 

• The applications of CSTORM-MS technology prior to 2010 had been 

“softly” coupled with individual applications made by specialists 

combining codes 

• CSTORM-MS implements advances into a “tightly” coupled, more 

efficient user-system for applications and includes GUIs within the 

SMS 

• Individual and coupled models can be applied stand alone on either 

an HPC or a desktop PC. 



Chris.Massey@usace.army.mil

CSTORM-MS Technology 

Applications 

• Loose Model Coupling (Prior to 2009) 

− Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) 

− Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LaCPR - MVN) 

− Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program (MsCIP - SAM) 

− Flood mapping for Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Chesapeake Bay (FEMA) 

− Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project (MVN) 

− Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) closure (MVN) 

− Plaquemines Parish flood protection planning (Plaquemines Parish) 

− Guidance for new “PMH” coastal surge estimates for licensing (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) 

− Waves inside Harbor Mouths (POA) 

− Ongoing New Orleans Litigation (Department of Justice) 

− New wave model evaluation technique (NOAA) 

• Tight Model Coupling (Alpha Version) 

– Finished in the Fall of 2009 

– ERDC users for Corps projects (MsCIP and LaRose) 

• ERDC-OWI-PBL Model 

– Finished in the Summer of 2009 


– ERDC users for Nuclear Regulatory Commission project 

• Tight Model Coupling (CSTORM-MS) – { Requires far fewer processors than Alpha Version } 

– Finished in June of 2010 

– ERDC users for Nuclear Regulatory Commission project 

• ESMF Compliant STWAVE Wave Model 

– Finished in the Fall of 2009 


BUILDING – Evaluated STRONG ® by contractors for FEMA flood mapping projects 


Innovative solutions for a safer, better world

Spiral 1 System Components 

• Winds/Pressure: PBL Cyclone Model 

• Waves: 

► Regional: WAM 

► Nearshore: STWAVE* 

• Circulation/Surge: ADCIRC* 

• Coupling Framework: CSTORM-MS* 

(*ESMF Compliant) 

Winds + Waves + Surge 



5 


Example Model Domains 

United States 

Gulf of 

Mexico 

Atlantic 

Ocean 

‣ ADCIRC grid boundaries 

are shown in black 

‣ PBL/WAM grid 

boundaries are shown in 

red 

‣ STWAVE grid boundaries 

are shown in blue 



Chris Massey USACE-ERDC-CHL

Example STWAVE Grids 

200 m x 200 m grid resolution 




Example ADCIRC Unstructured Mesh 

The mesh consists of 

approximately 5.4 million 

elements and 2.7 million 

nodes. 

Mesh resolution 

From 28 km down to 23 m 

Approximately 

98% of all 

elements are 

in the study 

area. 




SL15 Mesh Resolution 


Chris Massey USACE-ERDC-CHL 

9 





10 





11 





12 


(Courtesy of Dr. Rick Luettich) 

Higher vs Lower Resolution Grids 

424,485 

nodes 

Inter-grid 

comparison 

9,288,245 

nodes 




Inter-Grid Comparison Hurricane Ike 

(Courtesy of Dr. Rick Luettich) 

Water Level (m) 

Hi-res 

WET 

ONLY 

Low-res 

WET 

ONLY 




Topo/Bathy Comparisons 

for a Site in South FL 

NGDC Data 

Lidar Data 




Topo/Bathy Comparisons for a Site in 

South FL 





South FL 





South FL 





South FL 





South FL 




Storm Tracks – Eastern LA & MS 



21 


Storm Parameters applied in JPM-OS 

Forward Speed 

V f2 

V f3 

V f1 

R p 

R p 

R p 

C p 

Track 

θ 1 

C p 

θ 2 

θ 3 

Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 

For any location….. 

each red box (parameter set) has a joint probability density and a response (surge). 

C p 




MORPHOS-PBL Cyclone Wind 

Model 

• The wind model being used is an updated 

version of the TC96 PBL (Planetary Boundary 

Layer) model 

► Updated physics (Oceanweather, Inc.) 

► Updated driver and SMS interface 

• The inputs to the model are a track and storm 

characteristic description (Trop file) 

• Model outputs are wind and pressure fields 

• Outputs are used to force all the other 

CSTORM-MS models 



23 


Example Trop File 

MyStorm.TROP 

Date Time Lat Lon Pres BP FS Rmx Hb 

This file defines not only the track of the storm, but also 

the storm characteristics, like forward speed, minimum 

central pressure, radius of maximum winds, etc… 



24 


Example Control File 

&owipbltrop_input 

tropname = ‘MyStorm.Trop' !Storm Input Name (*.Trop) (Max 72 Character) 

tropform = 1 

! Trop File Format 0 = old, 1 = new 

inputdir = './Input' ! Input Directory Name (no ending /) 

soln_name = ‘MyStorm’ ! Output File Name, (.win and .pre ) 

outputdir = './Output' ! Output Directory Name (No ending / ) 

tkmin = 15 

! kMin, Timestep of output (minutes) 

tdx = 2 

! dx, Grid spacing of inner nest (km) (2 km typical) 

thh = 500 

! hh, Height of Boundary Layer (450m default) 

lnumlong = 361 

! lNumLong -- Num. of Grid Points in Longitude 

lnumlat = 261 

! lNumLat -- Num. of Grid Points in Latitude 

sswlat = 18.0 

! sSWLat -- South West Lat. Grid Boundary 

sswlong = -98.0 

! sSWLong -- South West Long. Grid Boundary 

sdlat = 0.05 

! sDLat -- Latitude Grid Spacing 

sdlong = 0.05 

! sDLong -- Longitude Grid Spacing 

wind_uv10_out = 1 ! output U- & V- Comp. 10m, (m/s) 

wind_noz_uv10_out = 1 ! output U- & V- Comp. 10m, (m/s) w/out zeros 

sealev_press_out = 1 ! output sea level pressure (mb) 

wind_xystrs_out = 0 ! output x- & y- Comp. of Stress 

wind_spdir10_out = 0 ! output Wind Speed 10 m, (m/s) & Dir. (met deg) 

fric_vel_out = 0 

! output Friction Velocity, Ustar 

wind_spdir_blav_out = 0 ! output Wind speed avg. in boundary layer (m/s) & wind dir. 

dist_bear_fromcen_out = 0 ! output distance & bearing (met deg) from center to lat/lon 

wind_grid_out = 1 ! output the long/lat locations of the output grid (degrees) 

wam_out = 1 

! output U- & V- Comp. 10m, (m/s) w/out zeros formatted for WAM 

/ 

This file defines the extents of the computation domain, 

grid spacing as well as model output options. Makes use 

of FORTRAN namelist to improve robustness. 



25 


SMS GUI for Cyclone Models 

1. Support for Morphos-PBL 

cyclone model, ADCIRC’s 

internal Holland models 

and ATCF Best Track 

formats 

2. Ability to read/modify 

existing cyclone track and 

characteristics 

3. Ability to create cyclone 

track via “point-n-click” and 

add storm characteristics 

4. Ability to auto perturb 

cyclone data: 

• Track 

• Intensity 

• Speed 

• Size 

Note: NOAA uses the ATCF Best Track. 





Point-and-Click to 

create storm track. 

Specify/Edit storm 

characteristics. 





Setup and run the 

MORPHOS-PBL 

Cyclone Wind Model 

Easily create 

perturbations for storm 

track/characteristic. 




Synthetic Storm Profile 

A synthetic storm profile 

generation routine is being 

included in the SMS. It 

generates storm profiles 

similar to those used in the 

IPET and other JPM-OS 

type storms. 

Landfall 

Pre-landfall 

filling 




Synthetic Storm Example 




WAM 

The global ocean wave prediction model WAM 

is a third generation wave model. 

Model Assumptions 

• Time dependent wave action balance equation. 

• Wave growth based on sea surface roughness and 

wind characteristics. 

• Nonlinear wave and wave interaction by Discrete 

Interaction Approximation (DIA). 

• Free form of spectral shape. 

• High dissipation rate to short waves. 



31 


WAM 

Model Inputs 

• Use wind outputs from the MORPHOS-PBL 

cyclone model 

• Needs a grid with bathymetry/topography 

• Can use ice coverage as well 

Model Use Within CSTORM-MS 

• For many applications, WAM is used only to supply 

spectral energy boundary conditions to the 

nearshore wave model STWAVE. 

• This allows for STWAVE to be used for a 

shorter time period 



32 


SMS GUI for WAM 

WAM Controls 

New to the SMS 

• Create and visualize 

WAM grids and model 

results 

• Setup input/control files 

• Execute WAM 



Close-up view 

of WAM Grid 


WAM to STWAVE Boundary 

Conditions 

STWAVE - Pont 

STWAVE - MSAL 

STWAVE - SE 

STWAVE - S 

WAM Stations 

(special save points) 




Different Coordinate Projections 

Projected to State Plane 

– Florida East 

Coordinate System 

PBL, WAM and ADCIRC are specified in 

a geographic coordinate system 

STWAVE is typically specified in a 

Cartesian like coordinate system 



35 


STWAVE 

STWAVE-FP solves the steady-state conservation of spectral wave action 

along backward traced wave rays (Smith 2001). The model is used to 

compute wave transformation (refraction, shoaling, and breaking) and windwave 

generation. 

Some features of the full-plane 

model include: 

• Wave transformation and 

generation on the full 360-deg 

plane. 

• Option for spatially variable 

winds and surge. 

• Option for spatially constant or 

spatially variable bottom 

friction. 

• Option for one-dimensional 

wave transformation on lateral 

boundaries. 

SMS GUI for STWAVE 



36 


STWAVE Version 6.0 

• Both the half-plane and full-plane version of STWAVE have been 

parallelized in space via domain decomposition. 

• This allows for larger grids to be used, either to cover more area or 

to offer finer resolution. 

• Both codes have been collated into a single executable. 

• Model parameter input files have been updated and unified. 

Domain Decompositions 

Full-Plane S Grid 

Half-Plane 

Thin Strips 

Full-Plane 

Blocks 

825 x 839 cells 

Time for 1 Snap 

Serial* – 2 hours 

256 Proc. – 3.8 min. 

*(14 Gb of Memory ) 



37 


STWAVE File I/O 

Required input files: 

SIM (*.sim) 

Optional input files: 

DEP 

SURGE 

SPEC 

WIND 

FRIC 

CURR 

ICE 

STWAVE 

Output files: 

WAVE 

TP 

Optional output files: 

OBSE 

BREAK 

RADS 

SELH 

STATION 

NEST 

• The SIM file (model control file) makes use of 

FORTRAN namelist to improve model robustness. 

• Input/Output files all contain metadata now. 



38 


FP STWAVE Application 

La Rose to 

Golden Meadow 

Requires FP 

application of 

STWAVE 

Running the south 

grid in full-plane was 

not possible before 

STWAVE-FP upgrades 




STWAVE SMS GUI Upgrades 

• Parallel simulation support 

• New combined simulation file 

• Updated file format to include 

the self describing metadata 

• Output XMDF file formats 

added 

• New User’s Guide 




SMS GUI for STWAVE 



41 


ADCIRC 

Advanced Circulation Model for Shelves, Coasts 

and Estuaries (ADCIRC) 

Present Capabilities 

• 2D & 3D dynamics 

Inter-tidal Zones 

Bays 

Rivers 

• Forcing from tides, wind, 

rivers, and waves 

• Shoreline 

inundation/recession 

• Utilizes unstructured grids 

(finite elements) 

• Serial & MPI 

parallelization 



42 


ADCIRC - CG 

• Hydrostatic Pressure & 

Boussinesq Approximations 

• Continuous Galerkin Finite 

Elements in Space 

• Finite Differences in Time 

• Unstructured Meshes Using 

Triangular Elements 

• Piecewise Linear Approx. in 

Space 

• Two-dimensional Depth Integrated 

(2DDI) or Three-Dimensional (3D) 

Model 

• Generalized Wave-Continuity 

Equation (GWCE) for Elevation 

• 2DDI or 3D Momentum Equations 

for Velocity 

• All Nonlinear Terms Retained 

• Includes a beta baroclinic version 



43 


SMS GUI for ADCIRC 



44 





45 





46 





47 


Circulation Wave Coupling 

• One unstructured finite element circulation mesh 

– A single instance of ADCIRC/ADH 

• One or more structured wave grids 

– Multiple instances of STWAVE 

• Half-Plane 

• Full-Plane 

Information to Exchange 

ζ , uv , 

CIRC 

WAVE 

τ , τ 

x 

y 

For consistency use the 

same winds and bathymetry 

(can be passed also) 

ADCIRC 

Timeline 



STWAVE Snaps 

Need to be able to 

synchronize both time and 

spatial frames of reference. 


The Earth System 

Modeling Framework 

• The ESMF has multi-agency buy in. 

Sponsored By 

• Having our models ESMF compliant makes them 

readily available to be linked with each other and with 

other agencies’ ESMF compliant models. 

• This leads to expanded collaborations and funding 

opportunities. 

• Individual models stay virtually autonomous when 

coupling. 



49 


Circulation Wave Coupling 

Schematic for CSTORM-MS 

Spiral 1 -- ADCIRC+STWAVE 

• Model coupling between ADCIRC and 

STWAVE is performed using CSTORM-MS 

Couplers written in FORTRAN and MPI. 

• One benefit of using the ESMF coupling 

standards is that the individual codes stay 

virtually autonomous. 

• Specification of how the two models are to 

interact is done with a simple control file 

(mf_config.in). 

PC and HPC applications! 

• Controller – 1 cpu 

• Coupler – 1 cpu (1 coupler/STWAVE) 

• ADCIRC/STWAVE share cpu’s 

• If more than one STWAVE grid is involved, 

fine detail control over any overlapping 

regions can be specified by using a 

(merge_file). 

Expandable ! 



50 


CSTORM-MS Coupling 

• The two models (ADCIRC + STWAVE) run sequentially 

• ADCIRC goes first and uses a zero valued wave radiation stress 

field along with any other forcing values (e.g. wind, tides, rivers) 

• At the end of the radiation stress time interval, ADCIRC collects its 

surge and wind data (currents and ice) and passes them via memory 

to STWAVE 

• STWAVE then uses the surge and wind data along with boundary 

forcing etc. to compute the wave field. 

• STWAVE then computes and collects wave radiation stresses 

gradients and passes them via memory to ADCIRC 



51 


Contents of the mf_config.in file 

# Adcirc Grid 

&adc_def adcgrid 

adcprocs = 256, 

writerprocs = 4, 

adcstart = 0, 

adcfinish = 216000 

= “TurkeyPoint.grd", 

/ 

# Wave Service 

&service wsid = 3, 

geo_and_stpl_coord = .true., 

stwgrids = 1, 

stwstart = 43200, 

stwfinish = 216000, 

stwtiminc = 1800 

/ 

# Stwave Grid 1 

&stw_def simfile = “turkeypoint.sim", 

stwprocs = 10 

/ 

ADCIRC only information 

Type of coupling and when 

coupling is performed 

STWAVE only information 



52 


SMS GUI for Coupler 

6 

4 

5 

7 

1 

2 

3 




SMS GUI for Coupler 




Project Management Summary 

View 




Computational Considerations 

Max Surge (m) 

Max Surge (m) 

STWAVE 

ADCIRC+STWAVE 

ADCIRC+UnSwan 

650k Nodes 

2.5 Day 

Simulation 

Models 

CPUs 

Time 

(min) 

Total Time 

(min) 

ADC+STWAVE 256 105 26880+780 

ADC+UnSwan 256 197 50432 



56 


Use an HPC: Yes You Can!!!! 

Online HPC 

documentation. 

Transfer files and enter 

command line mode. 

Easily 

create/submit job 

scripts on HPC. 



Online self-paced 

Linux tutorials. 

If you can use a desktop 

computer, then you can 

use a supercomputer! 


Old Workflow 

Pre-Compute Mapping 

Interpolation 

Cyclone Wind 

Model 

WAM 

Model 

ADCIRC 

(spin-up, 

rivers & 

winds) 

( 6+ hrs for one STWAVE to ADCIRC combination. 

Total of 1GB of mapping files. ) 

ADCIRC 

(cont’, 

rivers & 

winds) 

Map 

ADCIRC 

To 

STWAVE 

STWAVE 

(parallel 

in time) 

Map 

STWAVE 

To 

ADCIRC 

ADCIRC 

(cont’, 

rivers, 

winds & 

waves) 

File I/O 

Old 

System 

2.7 hrs + 1.3 hrs + 1.2 hrs + 0.1 hrs + 2.7 hrs = 8 hrs Comp. Time 

File I/O 

1.96 days 1.96 days 1.96 days Simulation Length 

• Three ADCIRC simulation, two that cover the 

same time period 

• STWAVE serial in space 

• No feedback response for STWAVE 

• Mapping interpolations pre-computed and stored 

in a file 

• Multiple copies of ADCIRC mesh file and 

STWAVE grid files 



Info. 

ADCIRC Mesh – SL15* 

2.1 million nodes 

4.1 million elements 

Time step size of 1 sec. 

Uses 256 processors (spatial 

partition) 

MS-AL 

Pont. 

683 x 744 

Snaps every 30 min. 


S 

SE 

STWAVE Grids (4) 

Uses 93 processors 

(temporal partition) 

Typical Production Run 

563 x 605 

284 x 352 

825 x 839 

HP 

FP 

HP 

HP

New Workflow 

No pre-computed mapping interpolations required, saving 6 hrs for each STWAVE grid. New 

system run requires a total of approximately 6 min for interpolation for a typical production . 

Cyclone Wind 

Model 

WAM 

Model 

ADCIRC 

(spin-up, 

rivers & 

winds) 

2.7 hrs + 1.3 hrs = 4 hrs Comp. Time 

ADCIRC 

CSTORM-MS 

Coupler 

STWAVE 

(parallel 

in space) 

Simulation time 

cut in half 

New 

System 

1.96 days 1.96 days Simulation Length 

• One ADCIRC simulation 

• Parallel in space STWAVE 

• STWAVE gets feedback response 

• Mapping interpolations computed on the fly, 

(now less than 30 seconds for one combination) 

• SMS graphical user interfaces 



Info. 

Full-plane S Grid 

Time for 1 Snap 

Serial – 2 hours 

256 Proc. – 3.8 min. 

ADCIRC Mesh – SL15* 

2.1 million nodes 

4.1 million elements 

Time step size of 1 sec. 

Uses 256 processors (spatial 

partition) 

MS-AL 

Pont. 

683 x 744 

Snaps every 30 min. 


S 

SE 

STWAVE Grids (4) 

563 x 605 

284 x 352 

825 x 839 

Uses 108 processors 

(spatial partition) 

Typical Production Run 

HP 

FP 

HP 

HP

Hurricane Gustav : WAM Wave Validation 

(Loosely Coupled) 

Taken from presentation by Smith et.al, 

“Waves BUILDING in Wetlands: STRONG Hurricane Gustav”, 

® 

ICCE 2010. 



Hurricane Gustav : STWAVE Wave 

Validation (Loosely Coupled) 

Locations of the nearshore AK gages (black 

points), CHL gages (blue points) and CSI stations 

(green points) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The 

Gustav track is shown in black, the coastline and 

water bodies are shown in gray, and the 

boundaries of the SL16 mesh are shown in 

brown. 

Time series of significant wave 

heights (m) at the six CHL gages. 

Measured values are shown with gray 

circles, modeled results from SWAN 

(green) and STWAVE (blue) are shown 

with solid lines. 

Taken from Dietrich et.al., “Hurricane Gustav 

(2008) Waves, Storm Surge and Currents: 

Hindcast BUILDING and Synoptic STRONG Analysis ® in Southern 

Louisiana”, submitted 2010. 



Hurricane Gustav : ADCIRC Validation 

(Loosely Coupled) 

When measurement errors are taken 

into account, the average absolute 

ADCIRC errors are in the range of 

0.13-0.19m. 

Taken from Dietrich et.al., “Hurricane Gustav 

(2008) Waves, Storm Surge and Currents: 

Hindcast BUILDING and Synoptic STRONG Analysis ® in Southern 

Louisiana”, submitted 2010. 



Comparison of Maximum Surge Levels for 

Loose and Tight Coupling 

Maximum Surge Level (meters) 

6 m Maximum Surge Level (meters) 6 m 

(Loose) 

(Tight) 

Results from the 

Larose to Golden 

Meadows project. 

2 cm 




Be Connected to Other Users 

Find Information. Get Tutorials. Contribute. 



64 


Coastal Storm - Database and Data Mining Tool 

Goals 

– Develop long-term 

archive/database of measured 

and modeled coastal storm data 

– Make data easily accessible and 

understandable to team 

members 

– Integrate contextual data 

products and tools that support 

federal decision making 

• Emergency management 

• Risk 

management/assessment/comm 

unication 

• Project design and evaluation 

POC: Jeffrey A. Melby, PhD 

USACE ERDC Coastal and Hydraulics Lab 

Jeffrey.A.Melby@usace.army.mil 

2 Mar 2010 



65 


CSTORM-DB Initial Screen 

Home 

Storm query tool 

Add existing storm 

to map 

Google Earth client 

map 

List of selected 

storms 

List of storms 

available for that 

region 

Turn on and off 

various layers such 

as bathymetry, 

model grid, model 

save stations, and 

live gages 

For a select storm, 

turn on and off 

maximum contour 

plots: water level, 

wind speed, wave 

height, animations 

Turn on and off 

standard Google 

Earth map tools 

Add any userdefined 

layer to map 



66 


Maximum Water Level Elevation in 

CSTORM-DB 

Select Storm 1 

Turn on track 

Turn on maximum 

water elevation 

contour plot 

Turn on standard 

Google Earth map 

tools 




67

Ongoing/Future Work: Spiral 2 

Winds 

+ Waves 

+ Surge 

+ Morphology 

• Include morphologic effects (ADH + C2SHORE) 

• Develop an unstructured finite element wave model based 

on WAM/STWAVE with upgraded physics (TSWAVE) 



68 


Advances in Morphology Response 

Philosophy: Efficient and Robust 

Model Components 

• Quasi-3D Shallow Water Hydrodynamics 

• Probabilistic Representation of Sediment Transport 

• Includes both Wave and Current Transport 

• Bed load and Suspended load 

Mississippi Coastal 

Improvement 

Program (MsCIP) 

Ship Island Lidar 

Pre-Katrina 

Post-Katrina 

Modeled 

Pre-Katrina 



Post-Katrina 

Model vs Measured 


Summary 

• CSTORM-MS is an efficient, robust, extensible modeling 

system for quantifying the risk of coastal communities to 

storm events. 

• Its’ streamlined workflow saves time and reduces both 

computational and personnel cost. 

• Model data feeds into CSTORM-DB for easy access and 

reuse purposes. 



70 


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