The geomorphology of an ebb-tidal-delta linked to benthic species distribution and functionality

As a response to climate change and sea-level rise, new nourishment strategies for low-lying sandy coasts are developed. These interventions affect the habitat quality of coastal ecosystems for benthic communities. Unraveling the relationship between benthic fauna and their environment facilitates the design of sustainable management...

Cellular automaton modelling of the effects of buildings on aeolian bedform dynamics

Buildings affect aeolian sediment transport and bedform development in sandy environments. Cellular automaton (CA) models have, however, only been used to simulate natural bedform dynamics. This study extends a well-known aeolian CA model to include sediment dynamics around buildings, and uses this model to explore the interaction of building...

Factors regulating sediment fluxes over an engineered foredune and adjacent dune slack

This study aims to identify and understand the annual scale sediment transport patterns in a fully engineered dune-dune slack system that was created from seabed sediments for grey dune and moist dune slack habitat creation at the Delfland coast (the Netherlands). The annual morphological development was analysed using LiDAR elevation data....

A biophysical model for seedling establishment in mangrove forests

Mangrove seedling establishment is crucial to the long-term development of mangrove forests. This study incorporates a process-based approach for seedling establishment in a process-based hydrodynamic model. The biophysical model is used to simulate seedling establishment in the Firth of Thames estuary (New Zealand). The results are compared to...

Beach-dune modelling in support of Building with Nature for an integrated spatial design of urbanized sandy shores

The long-term physical existence of sandy shores critically depends on a balanced sediment budget. From the principles of Building with Nature it follows that a sustainable protection of sandy shores should employ some form of shore nourishment. In the spatial design process of urbanized sandy shores, where multiple functions must be integrated,...

Connecting subtidal and subaerial sand transport pathways in the Texel inlet system

Potential transport pathways between the subtidal and subaerial part of tidal inlet systems are explored by means of a case study of Texel Inlet, The Netherlands. Based on a morphologic analysis of multi-annual, high-resolution bathymetric and topographic data sets we hypothesize that two mechanisms connect the subtidal and subaerial parts of...

Monitoring of beach surface properties with remote sensing

Existing aeolian transport formulae tend to overestimate the sediment transport volumes in coastal environments. Supply limiting factors like moisture content, shell patches, sediment sorting, vegetation and morphological features are believed to explain these overestimations. These supply limitations act on a variety of spatio-temporal scales...