Efficient and accurate modeling of wave-driven flooding on coral reef-lined coasts: On the interpolation of parameterized boundary conditions

Many coral reef islands are low-lying, which in combination with population growth, sea level rise and possibly more frequent extreme weather events is likely to result in increased coastal risk (e.g. Storlazzi et al., 2015). On smaller scales of O(10 km) wave-driven coastal inundation can be accurately predicted with advanced models such as...

Temporal Assessment of Hybrid Flood Defenses: A Dynamic Bayesian Network

Implementation of nature-based solutions (NBS) in flood defenses is hindered by a lack of probabilistic tools and design guidelines that can be used to assess spatial and temporal variability in these biophysical systems. It is well established that nature-based elements, such as vegetation, attenuate waves, capture sediment, strengthen the...

Compound flood hazard assessment of atoll islands based on representative scenarios for typhoons and non-typhoon conditions: A Majuro case study

Small Island Developing States, including many low-lying atoll islands, are among the most vulnerable countries to natural hazards and climate change disproportionately amplifies this vulnerability. Hence, there is a strong need for disaster risk reduction and risk management. Further development and implementation of methodologies for flood...

Investigating Uncertainty in Coastal Flood Risk Assessment in Small Island Developing States: A Case Study in São Tomé and Príncipe

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are increasingly under threat of coastal flooding, which challenges the safety of their societies and vulnerable economies. The emergency of this issue, exacerbated by climate change, has alarmed international organisations and national governments that have been demanding for robust risk assessments to...

Data Reduction Techniques of Coral Reef Morphology and Hydrodynamics for use in Wave Runup Prediction

Many tropical, coral reef-lined coasts, are low-lying with elevations less than five meters above mean sea level. Climate-change-driven sea level rise, coral reef decay and changes in (storm) wave climate will lead to greater chance and impacts of wave-driven flooding, posing a heavy threat to these coastal communities. Early warning systems ...

Computationally Efficient Modelling of Compound Flooding due to Tropical Cyclones with the Explicit Inclusion of Wave-Driven Processes: Research into the required processes and the implementation within the SFINCS model

Tropical cyclones (TCs) have tremendous impact on coastal communities in terms of damage due to flooding and high wind velocities, as shown by the recent hurricane season of 2017. Coastal flooding due to TCs can be contributed to different types of forcing (e.g. high offshore water levels, rainfall, etc.), or multiple at the same time (i.e....

Predicting Wave-Induced Flooding on Low-Lying Tropical Islands Using a Bayesian Network

Low-lying tropical islands are highly vulnerable to the effects of sea-level rise and climate change. Most pressing is the threat posed to their fresh water supplies by wave-induced flooding. This thesis attempts to generalize previous site-specific studies of flooding on coral atolls and apply it in a framework that can be used for early...

A method to calculate the probability of dike failure due to wave overtopping, including the infragravity waves and morphological changes

In this thesis, a method was developed, with which the infragravity waves and morphological changes of a sandy foreshore are included in the calculation of the probability of dike failure due to wave overtopping. Constructing a natural foreshore in front of the dike can be an attractive and innovative method to decrease the failure probability....

Predicting Coastal Hazards with a Bayesian Network

Recent and historic events have demonstrated the European vulnerability to coastal floods. Larger and more extreme events in Asia and the Americas have shown the devastating effects that these low-frequency high-impact floods can have. This thesis contributes to the development of an Early Warning System (EWS) for marine coastal hazards. The...

Impact Modelling of Hurricane Sandy on the Rockaways: Relating high-resolution storm characteristics to observed impact with use of Bayesian Belief Networks

Hurricane Sandy (2012), which made landfall in New Jersey on October 29th, made devastating impact on the East Coast of the USA and struck major parts of New York City, including the economic centre of Manhattan. The total damage (in the USA and Caribbean) is in excess of 100 billion US$ with estimates ranging between 78 and 97 billion US$ for...