Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the College of William & Mary have developed the first three-dimensional operational storm surge model for inland coastal areas. Over the past few years, the scientists have adjusted their model based on new research and the current incarnation is known as the Semi-implicit Cross-scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model (SCHISM). The SCHISM receives multiple inputs that are important factors in flooding, including air-sea exchange, vegetation, sediment, and engineered structures. The researchers then run their model on a supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

The model is already being used to forecast coastal flooding in Taiwan and in some European Union agencies. NOAA is considering it for operational use and recent tests suggest the model is working well. In fact, during tropical Storm Claudette, in June 2021, researchers compared water level results between SCHISM and NOAA’s current model. SCHISM calculated flooding levels that were verified by observations of flooding in Mississippi and in Louisiana. Additionally, these forecasts were done in real time demonstrating the utility of this tool during disaster events. Read more at TACC.