Large-Scale Deep Learning-Based Hourly Storm Surge Modeling: Application Across The U.S. Gulf And East Coasts

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

School

Ocean Science and Engineering

Abstract

Storm surge prediction is crucial for coastal zone management and flood risk reduction practices. Physics-based hydrodynamic models are often used for storm surge modeling. However, their inherent computational demands and the need for high-fidelity spatiotemporal data hinder their applicability at regional and continental scales. One alternative is the data-driven modeling of storm surges. However, most studies used data-driven techniques to model daily surges at individual tide gauges. In this study, we develop large-scale storm surge models utilizing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and a hybrid of CNN and LSTM (CNN-LSTM) algorithms to predict hourly surges at multiple tide gauges simultaneously, trained with atmospheric predictor variables. Observed hourly surges from 28 long-record tide gauges along the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts are used as the predictand. CNN-LSTM was identified as the best model, achieving an average (over 28 TGs) correlation of 0.82 and a root mean square error of 0.08 during the testing period. Furthermore, the best model’s performance in capturing temporal variability, extreme-surge statistics, probability distributions, and surge-hydrograph characteristics (e.g., peak, duration, severity, and intensity) is investigated. Additionally, we demonstrate how the networks leverage plausible physical relationships between storm surge and predictor features during training and prediction. Overall, the CNN-LSTM model achieves up to 78% and 46% improvements in the correlation coefficient and root mean square error, respectively, compared with existing data-driven storm surge models. In contrast, the model yields an average 8% increase in correlation and a 25% reduction in RMSE relative to hydrodynamic model-derived storm surges. The study underscores that the proposed deep learning modeling framework efficiently predicts hourly storm surges simultaneously across the U.S. Gulf and East Coasts. The model can be used for historical reconstruction and for potential future extensions to produce storm-surge projections that facilitate the investigation of future trends, variability, and return levels under different climate-change scenarios.

Publication Title

Earth Systems and Environment

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