Evaluation of storm surge hazard along the mainland coast of China

Abstract A storm surge hazard indicator was developed based on the storm surge index and high-water index. Based on this indicator, the storm surge hazard along the Chinese mainland coast was evaluated. Storm surges were simulated by the GPU-based high-resolution 2-D hydrodynamic operational storm surge model, driven by ERA5 reanalysis data. High waters were calculated from coastal warning water. The results show that the storm surge hazard of more than 80% of the mainland coast are moderate and low. The coast with a high-level storm surge hazard was distributed at the top area of Hangzhou Bay, in the Pearl River Estuary, along the eastern coast of the Leizhou Peninsula and in the coastal area of Guangxi Province, representing less than 20% of the total coast. In future work, different sea level rise scenarios will be considered in this indicator and method.