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Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

www.elsevier.com/locate/jfranklin

Tide–surge interaction model including air bubble

effects for the coast of Bangladesh
Gour Chandra Paula,b,n, Ahmad Izani Md. Ismailb,1
a
Department of Mathematics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh
b
School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Received 10 December 2010; received in revised form 11 June 2012; accepted 4 August 2012
Available online 11 August 2012

Abstract

An estimate of water levels due to the interaction of tide and surge associated with a storm including air
bubble effects is made along the coastal region of Bangladesh. For this purpose, a vertically integrated
shallow water model in Cartesian coordinate system is developed introducing air bubbles and is solved
using nested finite difference schemes. A fine grid model covering the region between 211150 N to 231N and
891E to 921 E has been nested into a coarse grid model covering the region between 151N to 231N and 851E
to 951E in the Bay of Bengal to incorporate all the major islands and coastal bending accurately. By
applying tidal forcing through the southern open boundary of the coarse grid model appropriate tidal
conditions are generated in the problem domain. Numerical experiments are performed with the help of the
model to simulate water levels due to tide and surge interaction including air bubble effects associated with
the tropical storm of April 1991. The model results are found to be reasonable and the model can be found
to simulate higher water levels in the presence of air bubbles.
& 2012 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Surges associated with tropical storms often lash the coastal region of Bangladesh. The
inundation that results due to the surges has caused a loss of many lives and properties of the
country. Although the strong circulatory wind plays the principal role in increasing surge levels
during a storm period, some other factors namely, astronomical tide, off-shore islands, river
n
Corresponding author at: School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang,
Malaysia. Tel.: þ60 4 6533384; fax: þ60 4 6570910.
E-mail addresses: pcgour2001@yahoo.com (G.C. Paul), izani@cs.usm.my (A.I.Md. Ismail).
1
Tel.: þ60 4 6533284; fax: þ60 4 6570910.

0016-0032/$32.00 & 2012 The Franklin Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfranklin.2012.08.003
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2531

discharge, shallow bathymetry, bending of coastline can contribute to raise the levels [1].
Therefore, it is necessary to have a proper understanding of the factors that affect surge along
the coastal region of Bangladesh to enable their accurate prediction.
Murty et al. [2], in his study of the storm surge problem in the Bay of Bengal, concluded
that it is very difficult to interact tide and storm surge for the accurate prediction of the
magnitude and time of peak of water level on the oceanographic scale.
According to Roy [3], the first nonlinear stair step model for the coast of Bangladesh by
Johns and Ali [4] considered the dynamic effect of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna
river system and off-shore islands. The model was used to study the influence of a change
of cyclonic track on storm surges, the effect of islands on surge amplification as well as the
extent of inland flooding [5]. Ali et al. [6,7] investigated river discharge, storm surges, and
tidal interaction in the Meghna estuary in Bangladesh as well as back water effect of tides
and storm surges on fresh water discharge through the estuary.
It is well known phenomenon that during storm events, wave breaking with extensive air
bubble entrainment occurs in the shallow water region and these air bubbles change the
dynamical processes in the sea. A number of studies have been carried out focusing on air
bubble effect in water [8–12]. Hoque [11], in his study of water level rise by entrained air in
the surf zone, found the contribution of entrained air bubbles on wave set up in raising the
water level. In [12–14] it is found that when the wind speed exceeds 25–30 m s1, the sea
surface is virtually covered with the two-phase layer, namely air bubbles in water and sea-
spray doublets in the air. According to Kraus and Businger [15], the spray and the bubbles,
in effect, increase ocean’s surface area making the surface no longer simply connected. This
results in a mixed-phase environment that changes the dynamics as well as thermo-
dynamics of air–sea interaction [9,14].
From the above discussion, we believe that air bubbles may have a contribution in
changing water levels during a storm period. Though a number of studies have been made
on numerical modeling of storm surge including various factors that affect water levels as
well as various effects of air bubbles in water, but no studies have been conducted to show
the effect of air bubbles on water levels during storm surges. In this communication we
intend to develop a cyclone induced tide–surge interaction model based on the Cartesian
coordinate system considering air bubbles that entrain into water by breaking waves
during storm surges.

2. Mathematical formulation

2.1. Shallow water equations in terms of air bubbles

During storm events, wave breaking with extensive air bubble entrainment occurs [16].
Hoque [11], in his study of water level rise by entrained air in the surf zone, found the
contribution of entrained air bubbles on wave set up in raising the water level. According
to Hoque and Aoki [10], the water level rise Dh due to entrained air bubbles, above the still
water depth h, is given by
Z0
Dh ¼ CðzÞdz, ð1Þ
hDh
2532 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

where C(z) is the time averaged concentration. The formula for C(z), based on [17], is
given by
CðzÞ ¼ C0 expðk1 zÞ, ð2Þ
where C0 indicates the reference void fraction at z ¼ 0 and k1 is a decay parameter that
characterizes vertical distribution of air bubbles and Hoque and Aoki [10] gave an
expression for this as
k0 ¼ k1 x: ð3Þ
In Eq. (3), k0 represents a dimensionless parameter and x is the local wave height.
The following boundary conditions are then satisfied:
)
CðzÞ ¼ C0 at the surface z ¼ 0 and
: ð4Þ
CðzÞ-0, for z-1

Eq. (1), on integration, gives

C0 1ek1 h
Dh ¼ : ð5Þ
k1 1C0 ek1 h
In this study, due to air bubble entrainment, the horizontal and vertical velocities,
pressure, and density are used based on Hoque and Aoki [10] and if the simplifications are
made following them, then we can write
u ¼ uw , ð6Þ

v ¼ vw , ð7Þ

w ¼ ww þ CðzÞwr , ð8Þ

p ¼ pw , ð9Þ

r ¼ ð1CðzÞÞrw : ð10Þ
In the above equations the subscript ‘w’ refers to water, and wr is the rising velocity of an
air bubble. Note that the above assumptions do not satisfy the continuity equation. The
term C(z)wr is time independent, which might be the reason of discontinuity [10]. We
modify the Eq. (8) following Hoque and Aoki [10] as
w ¼ ww þ wc , ð11Þ
where wc is the correction term. Then, in terms of air bubbles, the equations of continuity
and momentum for the dynamical process in the sea can be converted to
@uw @vw @ww
þ þ ¼ 0, ð12Þ
@x @y @z
 
@uw @uw @uw @uw 1 @pw @tx
þ uw þ vw þ ww fvw ¼   , ð13Þ
@t @x @y @z rw ð1C0 ek1 z Þ @x @z
 
@vw @vw @vw @vw 1 @pw @ty
þ uw þ vw þ ww þ fuw ¼   : ð14Þ
@t @x @y @z rw ð1C0 ek1 z Þ @y @z
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2533

If the wavelength is large compared to the depth, it is well known that the z-component
of the momentum equation may be approximated by the hydrostatic equation, i.e.,
@pw
¼ rw ð1CðzÞÞg: ð15Þ
@z
The correction term wc in Eq. (11) satisfies the equation
@wc C0 k1 ek1 z C0 k1 ek1 z
 k z
wc ¼ ww , ð16Þ
@z 1C0 e 1 1C0 ek1 z
which is subject to the condition that wc-0 as z-h.
In the above equations, uw, vw, and ww represent Reynolds averaged components of
velocity in the directions of x and y and z respectively; f is the Coriolis parameter; g is the
acceleration due to gravity; rw is the density of the sea water; h is the ocean depth from the
mean sea level; pw is the pressure at a point in the water; Cf represents the friction
coefficient, and (tx,ty) the components of Reynold’s stress.

2.2. Vertically integrated equations

In order to derive vertically integrated equations, a system of rectangular Cartesian

coordinates is used. The origin, O, of the system is set at depth h. OX and OY point
towards the south and east respectively and OZ is directed vertically upwards. The
displaced level of the free surface is given by z ¼ z and the position of the sea floor by
z ¼ hDh so that the total water depth H ¼ hþDhþz, where the still water depth
h ¼ h(x,y), and Dh is given by Eq. (5).
Denoting the wind stress and bottom stress components by (Tx,Ty) and (Fx,Fy)
respectively and the surface pressure as patmos, the bottom and surface conditions,
following Debsarma [18], are given by
ðtx ,ty Þ ¼ ðFx ,Fy Þ and uw ¼ vw ¼ ww ¼ 0 at z ¼ hðx,yÞDh, ð17Þ

@z @z @z
ðtx ,ty Þ ¼ ðTx ,Ty Þ, Pw ¼ Patmos , and ww ¼ þ uw þ v w at z ¼ z: ð18Þ
@t @x @y
Eq. (15), on integration, gives
pw ¼ patmos þ rw ð1CÞgðzzÞ: ð19Þ
Integrating each term of Eqs. (12)–(14) from hDh to z and using Eqs. (17)–(19) it can
be shown that
@ðHuw Þ @ðHvw Þ @z
þ þ ¼ 0, ð20Þ
@x @y @t
 
@uw @uw @uw 1 @ h i @
þ uw þ vw f vw þ Hðu2w u2w Þ þ ½Hðuw vw uw vw Þ
@t @x @y H @x @y
@z BðC0 ,z,hÞ @patmos BðC0 ,z,hÞðTx Fx Þ
¼ g  þ , ð21Þ
@x rw H @x rw H 2
 i
@vw @vw @vw 1 @ @ h
þ uw þ vw þ f uw þ ½Hðuw vw uw vw Þ þ Hðv2w v2w Þ
@t @x @y H @x @y
2534 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

@x BðC0 ,z,hÞ @patmos BðC0 ,z,hÞðTy Fy Þ

¼ g  þ , ð22Þ
@y rw H @y rw H 2
where over
R z bars in the above equations denote the depth averaged values, for example,
uw ¼ H1 hDh uw dz and B(C0,z,h) that appears in the above equations is a function of C0, z,
and h and is given by
2C0 1ek1 h
BðC0 ,z,hÞ ¼ h þ ð1 þ C0 Þz þ : ð23Þ
k1 1C0 ek1 h
The last two terms on the LHS of Eqs. (21) and (22) cannot be evaluated within the
framework of a vertically integrated model. But it has been found that
2
0:996o uw2 o1:04(see for instance [18]) and so on. Thus the terms can be neglected.
uw
It is evident from Eqs. (21) and (22) that local time variations of the vertically averaged
velocity components are affected by the forcing terms, namely surface wind stress,
frictional bottom stress, the Coriolis force and the surface pressure. Since we know the
latitudinal position of the area under consideration, the Coriolis force can easily be
determined. Again, the forcing due to barometric changes may be neglected in the surge
prediction models (see [18]). Furthermore, the bottom stress can be written in terms of the
depth-averaged current and usually the conventional quadratic law is applied:

ðFx ,Fy Þ ¼ rw cf ð u2w þ v2w Þ1=2 ðuw ,vw Þ, ð24Þ

where cf is an empirical bottom friction coefficient.

With the approximations made above and with the incorporation of Eq. (24),
Eqs. (20)–(22) can be written as
@z @ðHuÞ @ðHvÞ
þ þ ¼ 0, ð25Þ
@t @x @y

@u @u @u @z BðC0 ,z,hÞðTx rcf uðu2 þ v2 Þ1=2 Þ

þ u þ v fv ¼ g þ , ð26Þ
@t @x @y @x rH 2

@v @v @v @z BðC0 ,z,hÞðTy rcf vðu2 þ v2 Þ1=2 Þ

þ u þ v þ fu ¼ g þ ð27Þ
@t @x @y @y rH 2

respectively, where over bars and some subscripts are dropped in Eqs. (25)–(27) for
convenient.
For numerical treatment, we express Eqs. (26) and (27) with the help of Eq. (25) in flux
form. Eqs. (25)–(27) then can be written as
@z @u~ @~v
þ þ ¼ 0, ð28Þ
@t @x @y

" #
@u~ @ðuuÞ
~ ~
@ðvuÞ @z ~ 2 þ v2 Þ1=2
Tx cf uðu
þ þ f v~ ¼ gH þ BðC0 ,z,hÞ  , ð29Þ
@t @x @y @x rH H2
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2535

" #
@~v @ðu~v Þ @ðv~v Þ @x Ty cf v~ ðu2 þ v2 Þ1=2
þ þ þ f u~ ¼ gH þ BðC0 ,z,hÞ  , ð30Þ
@t @x @y @y rH H2

where ðu,~ v~ Þ ¼ Hðu,vÞ.

The appropriate formula giving the surface wind field over the area of interest, based on
[19], is given by
8 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
< V0 ðra =RÞ3 for all ra rR
Va ¼ ð31Þ
: V pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ðR=r Þ for all r 4R
0 a a

where V0 is the maximum sustained wind at the radial distance R and ra is the distance
between the cyclone center and the point at which the wind field is desired. Following Roy
[5], the x and y components of the wind stress in terms of the wind field were derived from
the formula
ðTx ,Ty Þ ¼ ra cD ðu2a þ v2a Þ1=2 ðua ,va Þ, ð32Þ
where ua and va are the x and y components of surface wind, CD is the drag coefficient, and
ra is the air density.

2.3. Boundary conditions

The normal component of the vertically integrated velocity at closed boundaries is zero
but it cannot vanish at the open-sea boundary and so radiation type of boundary condition
is generally used. This condition allows the outward propagation of internally generated
disturbances from the model area in the form of simple progressive waves and
communicates with the tides of the Bay of Bengal coming toward the coast of Bangladesh.
After Johns et al. [20], the western (851E), eastern (951E), and southern (151N) boundary
conditions are respectively given by
 1=2
g
vþ z ¼ 0, ð33Þ
h þ Dh
 1=2
g
v z ¼ 0, ð34Þ
h þ Dh
 1=2  1=2  
g g 2pt
u z ¼ 2 a sin þf , ð35Þ
h þ Dh h þ Dh T
where a and f are amplitude and phase respectively of the tidal forcing and T is the period
of the tidal constituent.

3. Numerical scheme

3.1. Set up of nested models.

In the study, the physical domain (referred to as coarse grid model) extends from 151N
to 231N and 851E to 951E (Fig. 1). The grid spacing along north-south direction is
2536 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

Fig.1. Domains of coarse and fine grid models along with positions of some coastal locations at which water
levels are calculated.
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2537

15.08 km and that along east-west direction is 17.52 km and there are 60  61computa-
tional grid points in the model. To incorporate the off-shore islands and the bending of the
coastline accurately, a high-resolution numerical model (referred to as fine grid model)
covering the area between 211150 N to 231N and 891E to 921E, the region of our interest,
is placed into the coarse grid model (CGM) (Fig. 1). The mesh sizes for the fine grid model
(FGM) along north-south and east-west directions are 2.15 km and 3.29 km respectively
and the total number of computational grid points in the model is 92  95. Both CGM and
FGM have the same dynamical equations given by (28)–(30) but with different boundary
conditions. The CGM is independent of the FGM and the parameters z, u, and v calculated
in the CGM are passed along the open boundaries of the FGM in each time step of the
solution process.

3.2. Numerical procedure

The governing equations given by (28) through (30) as well as the boundary conditions
given by (33) through (35) are discretized by finite-difference (forward in time and central
in space) by considering the discrete points in the xy-plane defined by xi ¼ (i1)Dx,
i¼ 1, 2, 3,y, m (even), yj ¼ (j1)Dx, j ¼ 1, 2, 3,y, n (odd) and sequence of time instant
defined by tk ¼ kDt, k ¼ 1, 2, 3,y
The discretization method and the finite difference scheme used in this study are similar
to those used in Karim et al. [21]. Eqs. (28)–(30) are solved using conditionally stable semi-
implicit method employing a staggered grid. The details of the staggered grid system are
shown in Fig. 2. m and n are chosen to be even and odd respectively to ensure z and v
points along the southern open sea boundary and z and u points along the eastern and
western open sea boundaries. The approximations of coastal and island boundaries are

3
y
2

1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
x

Fig. 2. Staggered grid system, where a circle indicates that the point is z, a triangle indicates that the point is u and
a quadrilateral indicates that the point is v.
2538 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

made following Roy and Kabir [22]. It is known that during storm events, wave breaking
with extensive air bubble entrainment occurs in the shallow water region. Chanson and
Cummings [8] and Lin and Hwung [23] showed that large numbers of bubbles can be
entrained by plunging breaking waves. In [24], it is seen that, plunging breakers possess a
greater potential than any other breakers for air bubble entrainment. So, in our
calculation, we assume plunging type breaker. It is also assumed that during the storm
event, air bubbles cover the entire analysis area. The value of the empirical parameter k0
was taken, based on [10], as 4. We computed our results for 0rC0r0.7, where C0 ¼ 0
indicating that the model results are in absence of air bubbles. Our choice of C0r0.7 is
because it is the pseudo-free-surface threshold criterion. In the CGM and FGM, Dh and
B(C0,z,h) are supplied using Eqs. (5) and (23), respectively. The boundary conditions given
by Eq. (4) are followed everywhere in the solution process. Following Roy [25], the values
of Cf and CD are considered uniformly throughout the domain under consideration as
0.0026 and 0.0028, respectively. The required meteorological inputs in our study are
supplied from Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). The water depth data for
some representative points of the model domain are compiled from the figure quoted in
[20]. We used weighted interpolation to interpolate the bottom for other necessary grid
points. The initial values of z, u and v are set to zero to represent an initial condition of
static equilibrium and from this state a stable tidal cycle is generated, which is discussed in
Section 3.3. These pure tidal oscillations provide the initial condition of the sea for the
tide–surge interaction phenomenon [25]. The time step is taken as 60 s that ensures
Courant–Friedrichs–Levy (CFL) criterion of stability of the numerical scheme.

3.3. Generation of tide and its interaction with surge

The procedure of the tide generation in this study is similar to that of Roy [1]. The initial
values of a and f are prescribed through Eq. (35) along the southern open boundary of the
CGM following McCammon and Wunsch [26]. The period of the tidal oscillation T is
taken as 12.4 h, as the mean period is always found to be approximately 12.4 h, which is of
M2 constituent. It should be noted that the period of tidal oscillation in the region of
interest is not completely periodic and M2 and S2 constituents are predominant in that
region. Then from initial state of rest in the absence of wind field a stable tidal regime is
achieved after 4 cycles of integration (see [1]). But the problem to generate a pure
oscillatory response in the Bay of Bengal corresponding to the tidal constituent with period
T lies with the exact values of a and f. Thus some techniques are needed for the precise
specification of the values of the constants and in this regard we use the technique of Roy
[1] to adjust the values of a and f. To determine the overall water levels, the tidal
oscillation generated is introduced as the initial condition at the model time t¼ 0.

4. Analysis of results and model validation

We computed our results with the storm April 1991 at some locations along the coast of
Bangladesh as shown in Fig. 1. The results in each case are presented for the last 48 h,
where the storm was allowed to move for at least 72 h over the analysis area. Time series
for the positions and nature of the above-mentioned storm are shown in Table 1 (the data
were obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department).
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2539

Table 1
Time series for the positions and the nature of the April 1991 cyclone (Source: BMD).

Date Hour (UTC) Latitude (1N) Longitude(1E) Nature of the storm

26-04 18:00 11.00 87.50 Cyclonic storm

27-04 00:00 11.80 87.50 Cyclonic storm
27-04 09:00 12.50 87.50 Cyclonic storm
27-04 12:00 13.00 87.50 Cyclonic storm
27-04 15:00 13.60 87.50 Severe cyclonic storm
28-04 00:00 14.50 87.50 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
28-04 12:00 15.80 87.70 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
28-04 14:00 16.50 88.00 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
29-04 00:00 17.60 88.30 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
29-04 12:00 19.80 88.40 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
29-04 18:00 20.80 88.50 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
30-04 00:00 22.00 91.00 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core
30-04 02:00 22.30 92.80 Severe cyclonic storm with hurricane core

Fig. 3. Simulated water levels due to tide with respect to the mean sea level at Sandwip and Chittagong during
28–30 April, 1991 cyclone: Solid and dashed lines represent configuration for Sandwip and Chittagong
respectively. Circles (for Chittagong) and asterisks (for Sandwip) represent the data obtained from the study of
Flather [27].

Fig. 3 shows our computed water levels due to tide at Sandwip and Chittagong, which
can be found to be in good agreement with those obtained by the study of Flather [27].
Figs. 4 and 5 depict water levels due to computed tide, surge and their interaction without
and with air bubbles respectively at Chittagong. During the early stage of the storm, a
dominating tendency of tide on water level may be observed from the figures, whereas near
the coast the water level can be found to be dominated by the surge. In [28], it is found
that, the April 1991 cyclone made landfall at Chittagong coast just when the local
astronomical tide was at peak, which is manifested in Figs. 4 and 5.
2540 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

Fig. 4. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to tide, surge and their interaction at
Chittagong with C0 ¼ 0.

Fig. 5. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to tide, surge and their interaction at
Chittagong with C0 ¼ 0.5.

The maximum computed water levels due to tide, surge and their interaction at
Chittagong were found to be 1.85 m, 5.15 m and 5.95 m (see Fig. 4) respectively without
including air bubbles and the same for including air bubbles (with 50% reference void
fraction) (Fig. 5) were found to be 1.85 m, 5.31 m and 6.07 m, respectively. According to a
report of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the water level due to surge
associated with the storm April 1991 at Chittagong was 5.5 m. Also the maximum surge
heights, without air bubble effect, as calculated by the model, were found to be 3.01 m–
5.89 m (Fig. 6), and with 50% reference void fraction the heights were found to be
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2541

Fig. 6. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to surge at some locations along the coasts of
Bangladesh with C0 ¼ 0 associated with April 1991 storm.

Fig. 7. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to surge at some locations along the coasts of
Bangladesh with C0 ¼ 0.5 associated with April 1991 storm.

3.08 m–6.08 m (Fig. 7), whereas according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department,

there was 3.5 m–6.1 m surge along the coast of Bangladesh. Thus our computed results
(due to surge) are in agreement with observed results. It may be observed from Figs. 4–7
that the region between Char Jabbar and Chittagong is vulnerable for high surge.
Figs. 8–10 show overall development of water levels with 20% reference void fraction at
various times associated with the storm at 10 locations from Hiron Point to Chittagong.
2542 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

Fig. 8. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to the interaction of tide and surge with
C0 ¼ 0.2 associated with April 1991 storm.

Fig. 9. Computed water levels with respect to the mean sea level due to the interaction of tide and surge with
C0 ¼ 0.2 associated with April 1991 storm.

Our simulated overall water levels at Char Chenga (Hatiya) and Chittagong (Fig. 10) can
be found to be in good agreement with observed data. Due to paucity of authentic
observed data at other locations, we could not compare our simulated overall sea-surface
elevations with observed data. It can be seen from Figs. 8–10 that the maximum overall
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2543

Fig. 10. Comparison of our computed overall water levels with observed data (Source: Bangladesh Inland Water
Transport Authority). In each case, a solid curve represents our computed time series data and a circle represents
an observed data (whenever available): (a) at Char Chenga (Hatiya) and (b) at Chittagong.

Table 2
Comparison of our computed overall water levels due to the interaction of tide and surge for some values of C0
with the results obtained with different investigations for April 1991 cyclone along the coast of Bangladesh
(wherever available).

Coastal Simulated Simulated Simulated Simulated Max. water level Max. water level
location max. water max. water max. water max. water based on the based on the
level with level with level with level with study of Roy et al. study of Flather
C0 ¼ 0 C0 ¼ 0.1 C0 ¼0.4 C0 ¼0.7 [25] [27]

Hiron Point 2.69 2.70 2.73 2.77 1.98

Kuakata 3.30 3.32 3.36 3.40
Rangabali 3.93 3.95 4.03 4.09
Char Madras 4.97 5.03 5.19 5.33
Char Jabbar 6.29 6.32 6.40 6.49
Char Chenga 4.95 5.00 5.15 5.28 5.35 5.95
Companigonj 6.98 7.00 7.06 7.13 7.21
Sandwip 5.74 5.77 5.82 5.87 4.85 6.00
Chittagong 5.95 5.97 6.05 6.12 6.88 6.10

water level at each location increases with time as the storm approaches the coast and
finally a recession takes place. This is expected as the circulatory wind attains highest
intensity along the coast. The beginning of recession delays as we proceed towards the
eastern coastal locations from the west ones and early recessions of water levels at the
western costal locations can be seen from the figures. At each location, the peak water level
2544 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546

is attained before the time of land fall (Figs. 8–10). The overall time series of water levels
for other values of C0 are computed and the computed water levels at the respective
positions generally supported the characteristics of the graph for the respective positions
shown in Figs. 8–10. Since to show all such graphs are space consuming, so they have not
been included. Instead, maximum water levels at some coastal locations for some values of
C0 are presented in Table 2. The overall maximum water levels, as simulated by our model,
presented in Table 2 can be found to be in a reasonably good agreement with the results
obtained with other investigations. Water levels (Figs. 8–10 and Table 2) around
Chittagong were found to be higher than those of western coastal locations. This is
expected as the track of April 1991 storm was almost over Chittagong and the peak surge
coincided closely with high tide (Figs. 4 and 5). Both the maximum surge height and
maximum overall water level were found at Companigonj (Figs. 6 and 7 and Table 2),
which is situated at Noakhali coast and north of Sandwip. It may be due to the fact that
the storm crossed the coast just north of Chittagong keeping Sandwip to its left. The
highest overall water level for April 1991 cyclone as calculated by the model of Flather [27]
was 7.21 m on the Noakhali coast. Thus our simulated maximum overall water level at
Noakhali coast (7.13 m) compares well with the simulated results by Flather [27]. It is clear
from the Table 2 that the model can simulate higher water levels along the coastal region
under consideration in the presence of air bubbles. The model can also be found to
simulate higher water level for greater value of the reference void fraction.

5. Conclusion

In this study, simulation of storm surges has been carried out considering air bubbles
that entrain into water by breaking waves during storm surges. We have developed a
cyclone induced storm surge model and its interaction with tide including air bubbles for
the forecast of water levels along the coastal area of Bangladesh. The model simulation
result was found to be reasonable and the model can be found to simulate higher water
levels in the presence of air bubbles. Due to the existence of low lying small and big islands
in the Meghna estuarine area and highly bending coastal belt, grid size should be small to
incorporate them properly in a numerical model. The grid resolution achieved in the model
could be improved, but an operational forecasting model should be capable of computing
water levels with good accuracy using minimum computer time and memory [25]. We have
tested grid resolution effects on our numerical results. But the results were always found to
be in a general agreement with the results that are presented in each case.
We computed our results for 0rC0r0.7. Surface elevations for some locations are
found to be greatly influenced with reference void fraction, though water depth at these
locations was 3 m. The reason behind is that the bottom geometry may be an important
factor for water surface elevation for those regions due to air bubbles. The study may thus
help to figure out in which region the air bubble is important for water surface elevation
and in which is not. But before making any final decision, more investigation is needed.
Based on our study, a significant alert system can be developed for the coastal region of
Bangladesh which definitely can serve as a better software tool for the prediction of storm
surge. Furthermore, the obtained and validated benchmarking results can be taken as an
evident base reference for the future development of research and its related potential
application areas.
 G.C. Paul, A.I.Md. Ismail / Journal of the Franklin Institute 349 (2012) 2530–2546 2545

Acknowledgments

The first author expresses his grateful thanks to Government of Malaysia for offering
financial grants during post-doctoral fellow scheme to Universiti Sains Malaysia (An Apex
Public University by Government of Malaysia), School of Mathematical Sciences, Pulau
Pinang-11800, Pinang, Malaysia. URL: http://www.usm.my. The authors are thankful to
Md. Mizanur Rahman, Assistant Professor Department of Mathematics, Shahjalal University
of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh for providing necessary data. The authors
would like to thank both the anonymous referees for useful comments and suggestions.

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