Determination of the maximum flood level in the colombo-ecuadorian frontier by applying numerical modeling

Abstract

The highest tide line was determined for the area between Candelillas de la Mar and Salahondita, located on the southern Colombian Pacific littoral (CPL). The study was made by means of a harmonic analysis, time series of sea level measured in-situ, and the series that were generated from numerical modeling (considering the limited information available of sea level in this area). The meteorological tide was simulated using statistical Montecarlo techniques; considering the stochastic character of this variable. The behavior described for the series measured in-situ and modeled. It was analyzed with a normality test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test), these were subsequently correlated through the Spearman Correlation Method, where the geomorphological changes in the coast and the limited bathymetric information in some areas, conditioned the behavior of the coefficients obtained. For the calculation of the average and extreme regimes, standard methodologies were applied, based on the coefficients obtained by Otero (2005). From this results, the highest flood levels for each study points were determined, which served to draw the highest tide line in this zone.