COUPLED TIDES, STORM SURGE AND WAVES UNDER VARYING ICE COVERAGES ALONG ALASKA’S BERING AND CHUKCHI COASTS

The western coastline of Alaska spans over a diverse topography ranging from low lying tundra to sharp volcanic relief. Included in this range are areas highly susceptible to powerful storms which cause coastal flooding, erosion and have many other negative effects on the environment and commercial efforts in the region. To better understand the multi-scale and interactive physics of the deep ocean, continental shelf, near shore, and coast, a large unstructured grid hydrodynamic model has being developed using the finite element, free surface circulation code ADCIRC coupled to the WAVEWATCH III third generation non-phase resolving wave code. This is a high resolution, accurate, and robust computational model of Alaska's coastal environment capable of simulating tides, storm surges, and storm waves as well as their coupling.