The increasing frequency of extreme weather events intensifies the demand for accurate monitoring of nearshore wave dynamics, as these dynamics directly affect shoreline stability, flood risks, and coastal operations. While operational wave models provide essential forecasts, they often underestimate significant wave height (SWH) during energetic conditions and omit infragravity (IG) waves. The latter can substantially amplify coastal impacts such as flooding, dune erosion, and harbor seiching. These limitations are further exacerbated by the limited spatial coverage of in-situ buoys, making model validation in coastal waters particularly challenging.

The launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission presents a promising yet underutilized opportunity to improve coastal monitoring and support the validation of hydrodynamic models. Using Ka-band Radar Interferometry (KaRIn), SWOT provides high-resolution, two-dimensional measurements of sea surface height (SSH), offering spatial detail that exceeds the capabilities of buoys and traditional altimeters. While initial validations in the open ocean have confirmed SWOT’s capacity to retrieve SWH and resolve long-period waves, its performance in shallow, morphologically complex coastal seas remains largely untested.

This research presents a novel approach comprising (i) a multi-pixel match-up strategy for SWH retrieval, and (ii) the first satellite-based spectral analysis for detecting IG wave energy in the Southern North Sea. Through three targeted case studies, the study investigates SWOT’s two-dimensional SSH and SWH patterns, retrieval accuracy, and sensitivity to key processing parameters across varying sea states and bathymetric regimes. Validation is performed using in-situ buoy observations, platform-mounted radar measurements and numerical wave models to assess consistency, spatial performance, and retrieval accuracy.

By applying both single- and multi-pixel match-up strategies, our findings revealed the trade-off between statistical variance reduction through spatial averaging and the preservation of local wave variability. Similarly, for spectrally derived IG wave energy, different analysis box sizes were evaluated against platform-mounted radar observations in the Southern North Sea. Results show that SWOT-derived SWH exhibits strong agreement with buoy data (bias < 7 cm) and outperforms operational wave models during energetic events. IG wave height estimates also demonstrate good correspondence (MAE $\approx$ 0.9 cm), provided that residual noise amplification is carefully managed. This finding underscores the need for improved noise modelling in future spectral retrieval frameworks. A key uncertainty identified is the role of spatial heterogeneity, which induces representation errors due to the inherent mismatch in spatial and temporal scales between SWOT observations, in-situ buoys, and wave models.

Despite these uncertainties and other limitations, the results confirm SWOT’s capacity to observe nearshore wave dynamics with high spatial detail. The proposed configurations and filtering strategies offer a transferable framework for future applications. These insights support SWOT’s integration into coastal wave model validation, boundary condition improvement, and data assimilation schemes across coastal scales. Ultimately, this thesis advances high-resolution coastal wave monitoring by demonstrating how SWOT’s two-dimensional observations can enhance our understanding of spatial sea state variability, particularly during energetic conditions in morphologically complex environments. ... Read more

Mangrove ecosystems play an important role in (sub)tropical coastal zones by providing services such as carbon storage, biodiversity support, and natural protection against erosion and flooding. Their dense root systems trap sediment and reduce wave energy, contributing to shoreline stability. Despite these benefits, global mangrove areas have declined rapidly in recent decades, mainly due to deforestation and coastal retreat. In response, various restoration measures have been implemented, including the construction of permeable structures along eroding coastlines. These structures aim to reduce hydrodynamic energy and promote sediment deposition, creating conditions suitable for mangrove re-establishment. However, they do not always succeed in providing the required sediment accumulation.

This study focuses on a breakwater in the study area, located along the coast of Bạc Liêu, Vietnam. The area has a concave bed profile with limited wave energy dissipation and short inundation-free periods, which, together with net erosion, hinder both mature mangrove stability and seedling establishment. Hydrodynamic forces such as longshore currents, tidal flows, and waves generate bed shear stresses that resuspend sediment and limit sediment deposition near the shore. The existing permeable breakwater fails to provide the sheltered conditions needed for mangrove survival and recovery. As part of the Mangrove Living Lab project, this study investigates how the spatial design of the existing Pile-Rock Breakwater (PRBW) influences hydrodynamic processes relevant to sediment transport and deposition, focusing on minimising the maximum bed shear stress near the mangrove fringe. The considered spatial design parameters of the permeable breakwater are the gap width and the distance to shore. Field measurements and numerical modelling using Delft3D are combined to assess current conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of the existing design, and explore potential improvements.

Results show that narrower gaps reduce wave energy in the sheltered area but concentrate flow through the gaps, locally increasing velocities. Placing the breakwater further offshore allows more space for dissipation and reduces bed shear stress at more exposed areas behind the gaps, but also increases the incoming energy near the mangroves in more sheltered zones. The recommended spatial design requires a balance of these effects, with the breakwater placed approximately 70 metres further offshore and featuring narrower gaps to enhance shelter and reduce resuspension. Recommendations for future work include more detailed modelling including diffraction, long waves, and morphodynamics, as well as gathering more data from the area to improve understanding. Further research should also investigate simultaneous adjustments of the spatial design parameters and explore alternative breakwater types.

Overall, this research shows the complexity and importance of a site-specific breakwater design. Optimising the spatial layout offers potential to improve the breakwater’s effectiveness, but further research is needed to improve the design and develop a more thorough understanding of the local conditions and ongoing coastal processes. These improvements are essential to support sedimentation and establish stable conditions for mangrove survival and long-term restoration along the coast of Bạc Liêu. ... Read more

Sandy beaches provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including flood protection, sediment and water storage, recreational values, and habitat for diverse flora and fauna. Over the past centuries, humans have increasingly developed settlements and infrastructure on the landward side, while waves, storm surges, and sea level rise encroach from the ocean side. These stressors may lead to ecological impacts across varying temporal and spatial scales, threatening the ecosystem services for humans and animals alike.
Among the species particularly vulnerable to the degradation of sandy beaches are sea turtles, who rely on these habitats for nesting. These endangered reptiles play key ecological roles in coastal and marine ecosystems worldwide, for instance by maintaining healthy coral reefs and sea grass meadows. Unfortunately, climate change and human activity severely threaten their populations. Among the challenges they face are the flooding and erosion of their nesting beaches. Incubating nests require a narrow temperature and moisture window to develop, making them susceptible to inundation. Episodic erosion can destroy nests and change beach morphology over several seasons. Long-term, chronic erosion and coastal squeeze may gradually diminish suitable nesting beaches worldwide. Although both flooding and erosion are recognized as significant threats, they remain under-represented in conservation management and research. Nature-based solutions—such as turtle-friendly sand nourishments or restoration of coastal vegetation and reefs—may offer promising opportunities to preserve existing nesting habitats, and potentially enable sea turtles to expand to currently unused beaches. However, we first need to understand the coastal processes that enable and threaten sea turtle nesting to effectively design such solutions.
This thesis identifies coastal processes that govern the vulnerability of sea turtle nesting beaches, and assesses their implications for global habitat suitability and conservation. Specifically, it investigates processes related to nest flooding and long-term erosion, while also examining how regional coastal characteristics influence global nesting habitat suitability. Employing detailed local case studies and global analyses, this thesis integrates diverse methods—including field experiments, numerical modeling, remote sensing, statistical analyses, global datasets, and machine learning—to illustrate the broad potential of coastal science tools for sea turtle conservation, which are essential for developing an integrative approach to assess nesting beach vulnerability and inform targeted interventions... ... Read more

Sand waves are rhythmic seabed patterns which develop as a result of the interaction between tidal flow and perturbations in the seabed. Due to their size and dynamic behaviour sand waves can pose a threat to offshore infrastructure such as cable trenching. To ensure the safety of these cables, it is crucial to understand the interactions between sand waves and trenches. Residual currents, currents that are not induced by the tide, can exert a significant influence on sand wave dynamics due to the non-linear relationship between flow velocity and sediment transport. Hence, this thesis aims to investigate the effects of residual currents on the morphological interactions between sand waves and trenches. A Delft3D FM model is used to simulate a case study of a trench within a group of sand waves in the Belgium Continental Shelf. The influence of residual currents, mostly induced by wind and atmospheric pressure, is studied during a period of a storm and a period with representative residual currents. It is found that during the tidal cycle at the peak of the storm, the residual currents cause an increase of 66% in sediment infilling into the trench compared to tide-only conditions. Since this is in the same order of magnitude as the background infilling due to tidal dynamics, this is less than expected. The residual currents are however strong enough to reverse the sediment transport patterns of the sand wave and trench system. During the representative residual currents, the contribution of residual currents is found to be insignificant, especially compared to the observed influence of the spring-neap tide. This study concludes that the overall effects of the residual currents, induced by wind and atmospheric pressure, can alter sediment transport patterns but the magnitudes are insignificant in the case study under investigation. It is recommended, for further research and for effective design and maintenance of offshore infrastructure procedures, to keep in mind that morphodynamics of sand wave and trench systems are highly subject to the variations in tidal dynamics induced by the spring-neap tide. ... Read more

Wave runup observations are key data for coastal management, as they help validate predictive models for the inundation frequencies and erosion rates. Efforts to develop automated algorithms that effectively identify the instantaneous water line from video imagery have led to a plurality of methods. However, under dissipative conditions, the presence of a seepage face often hinders proper extraction and requires time-intensive data quality control or manual digitization. In this study, we explore traditional color contrast (CC) preprocessing techniques and develop a novel method that incorporates a measure for texture roughness — specifically, local entropy — alongside saturation. The CC-model showed good agreement with the manually digitized water line (0.12 m root-mean-square-
error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (r) of 0.94), and with its runup statistics (0.08 m
RMSE, and r of 0.97 for the 2% runup exceedance, R_2%). The timing aspect of the method also
showed good agreement (3.88 s RMSE, and r of 0.70 for T_m−1,0). Concurrently, a convolutional
neural network (CNN) informed by CC-preprocessed images was cross-validated using nine manually labeled video time series, each lasting 1 hour and 30 minutes. The CNN model demonstrated good agreement during cross-validation with manually labeled time series (0.10 m RMSE and r of 0.96 for the full-time series, and 0.09 m RMSE and r of 0.97 for R_2%). The temporal dimension of the CNN estimate was also satisfactory (3.51 s RMSE, and r of 0.79 for Tm_−1,0). The observed R_2% values showed the best agreement with the formula for extremely dissipative conditions from Stockdon et al. (2006), with RMSE-values lower than 0.13 m and r-values that exceeded 0.70 for all three methods. When applied to other datasets, the CNN method occasionally failed to accurately capture the water line due to specific characteristics of the new timestack images. These results validate our ML method as a viable proof of concept and challenge us to enhance its adaptability and accuracy across varied environmental conditions. Despite these limitations, the CNN method can be effectively implemented for long-term runup analysis. Additionally, the CC method is anticipated
to be applicable across similar beaches along the northern Gulf of Mexico for long-term extreme value analysis and wave-by-wave analysis. Both methods demonstrate potential in reducing the time required to extract the instantaneous runup from video imagery under dissipative conditions and enhance real-time monitoring, enabling better predictive modeling of coastal processes. ... Read more

This study focuses on the infragravity (IG) waves at 5 measurement sites (Brouwershavense Gat 2 (BG2), Oosterschelde 4 (OS4), Cadzand, Hansweert and Bath) in the Scheldt region, examining their characteristics in these waters as well as to what extent they can be modelled using SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore). To facilitate this, data collected during the occurrence of four storms (Corrie, Dudley, Eunice and Franklin) that traversed the North Sea in January and February 2022 has been used.

A spectral analysis has been used to provide insight into the IG and sea-swell (SS) wave field. To this extent, the significant wave height for the IG (0.005 – 0.04 Hz) and SS (0.04 – 0.33 Hz) frequency bands have been derived, in addition to the storm averaged wave period. Measurement device BG2 documented the largest storm averaged significant wave height for both the IG and SS frequency bands (0.256 m and 3.46 m during storm Corrie, respectively). The measurement device with the smallest storm averaged significant waveheight values was Hansweert, which measured 0.024 m and 0.217 m for the IG and SS wave frequencies, also during storm Corrie. Most of the wave energy for the measurement devices in the Western Scheldt, Hansweert and Bath, can be attributed to waves with frequency values larger than the upper boundary for SS waves (T < 3 s). The fraction of the total wave energy contained within the IG and SS frequency bands ranged from 0.1 to 0.56 for these two measurement devices. Conversely, the IG and SS frequency bands contain 0.81 to 0.96 of the total wave energy for measurement device Cadzand, BG2 and OS4. The correlation between the IG and SS significant wave heights is mostly strong for the BG2, OS4 and Cadzand measurement devices (0.657 to 0.956) and generally moderate for Hansweert and Bath (0.474 to 0.87), with one outlier equivalent to 0.128). A bispectral analysis was used to offer more insight regarding the components contributing to the total IG wave field. The results at Bath proved to be erroneous for all storms except Corrie, as the derived free IG (FIG) contribution was negative. The origin remains unclear, although it appears to be related to unexplained spurious bursts in the wave elevation signal. The bispectral analysis for the remainder of the locations lead to maximum TIG wave heights ranging from 0.05 m to 0.12 m for Hansweert, 0.15 m to 0.39 m for BG2, 0.11 m to 0.35 m for OS4 and 0.21 m to 0.34 m for Cadzand for the 4 storms. The contribution of the bound IG (BIG) and FIG energy at Bath and Hansweert appears to fluctuate heavily, undergoing rapid changes on an hourly basis. For BG2, OS4 and Cadzand, the FIG energy contribution is strongly dominant as it generally amounted to > 0.75 of the TIG energy.

The capabilities of the SWAN model were evaluated by simulating FIG waves in the North Sea basin. The model relates incident SS wave energy to reflected FIG wave energy with FIG source lines based on the reflection parametrization of Ardhuin et al. (2014). The hourly SS wave inputs were provided by Copernicus Marine Service. The predictive skill was used to qualitatively assess to what extent the model is able to reproduce FIG waves in the Scheldt region. The model was unable to correctly predict the FIG waves Hansweert and Bath, where the predictive skill values for all storms ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0009 for Hansweert, and were 0 for Bath. Better predictive skill values were obtained for BG2 (0.5044 to 0.6565), OS4 (0.3327 to 0.4293) and Cadzand (0.6466 to 0.7510), but there is still room for improvement. The lacking skill values can be attributed to not enough FIG wave energy being able to penetrate the estuarine waters. Reflective lines were implemented along the coastline of the Western Scheldt in an attempt to force more FIG energy into the estuary. This only led to a minor increase for the predictive skill values (O(0.002) for Hansweert, 0 for Bath and O(0.0001) for BG2, OS4 and Cadzand) but from a spatial standpoint, it appears that there are locations in the estuary where the absolute increase was O(0.02), which is significant as there are areas in the estuary where the significant FIG wave height has doubled as a consequence of the implementation of the reflective lines.
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Dunes often act as the primary line of defence for low-lying hinterland against storm surges with dune erosion in the swash-dune collision regime. In the swash-dune collision regime, an elevated total water level, consisting of tide, surge, and wave setup, temporarily submerges the beach. As a consequence, the incident swash may run up to the dunes and collide with the dune face. The damage to dunes following from these collisions can be severe. In the most extreme of cases, storm surges with dune erosion in the swash-dune collision regime can lead to dune breaching or failure with flooding of the hinterland as a consequence. These floods can have devastating economic effects and potentially lead to loss of life.

The risk assessment of areas protected by dunes is often performed using predictive dune erosion models. Such models first use possible storm conditions as input, then use a set of physics based and empirical equations to model the physical processes based on that input, and finally use a measure of impact to the dunes from the model results to estimate the amount of damage to the dunes. However, not all physical processes are currently fully understood, complicating accurate reproductions in models and the risk assessment of areas protected by dunes.

This dissertation aims to study two such physical processes that are relevant to dune erosion during storm surges in the swash-dune collision regime. The first process is the suspension of sediments in the inner surf zone. The total amount of sediment in the water column affects the sediment transport rates. As a consequence, sediment concentrations can have a substantial impact on the magnitude and speed with which sediments eroded from the dune face are transported offshore, and thus on the total amount of dune erosion.

The second process studied is sediment transport due to soil instabilities, i.e. the slumping (or avalanching) of sediments from the dune face. Sediment transport due to soil instabilities leads to dune scarping and a gradual retreat of the dune face. If this type of transport persists for a prolonged period of time, the retreat of the dune face can continue until there is no more dune to erode. As a consequence, the dune breaches and enters the overwash regime, and complete failure of the dune may follow.

To study both processes, a prototype scale field experiment was conducted in the winter of 2021-2022. Two artificial dunes were constructed in close proximity to the high water line on a sandy beach. This increased the probability that the total water level driven by a storm event would result in dune erosion within the swash-dune collision regime. The dunes were monitored for a period of three months and within this period three such events occurred.

The suspension of sediments in the inner surf zone was studied by comparing variability in measured, wave-averaged (i.e. 20 min mean) suspended sediment concentrations. These variations were compared to variability of hydrodynamic drivers that are known from literature to govern sediment suspension during storm conditions. Overall, sediment suspension due to bore turbulence appeared the dominant suspension driver during energetic events representative of storm conditions. During such events, wave energy was saturated in the inner surf zone, and almost all waves were breaking and contributed to the generation of bore turbulence at the free surface. The outcome of the first study suggests that, based on the events analysed, dune erosion models may achieve more accurate results if computations of the magnitude of suspended sediment concentrations were to include a bore-induced turbulence term. If such a term is already included, models should properly address the relative importance of bore-induced turbulence when compared to other drivers.

Sediment transport due to soil instabilities was studied by analysing profile crosssections of the dune face during two storm events. Overall, the morphodynamic behaviour of the upper dune face and dune crest was primarily steered by the morphodynamic behaviour at the dune base. The morphodynamic behaviour (i.e. erosion rate) of the dune base correlated well with the elevation difference between the dune base and the incident total water levels, specifically the square of the total water level that was exceeded for 2% of the time. The slumping events that occurred during both storms likely occurred when sediments from previous slumps at the dune base were nearly depleted by the persisting erosion rate. As a consequence, under similar erosion rates, a new slumping event occurred sooner when the volume of the preceding slump was smaller. A clear relationship could not be established between hydrodynamics seaward of the dune and the volume of individual slumps.

Different model approaches are currently being used to implement sediment transport due to soil instabilities. These different approaches all use the persisting erosion rate of the submerged part of the dune base to steer the erosion of the upper dune face. Therefore, according to the field experiment results, these different approaches may all be able to achieve accurate dune erosion volume magnitudes. Still, depending on the application (e.g. one-dimensional versus two-dimensional modelling), one approach might be more suitable than others.
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Intertidal flats and salt marshes are critical ecosystems offering significant services but face degradation due to anthropogenic pressures. To mitigate this, restoration efforts like the "Mud Motor" have been introduced, where fine sediments dredged from ports are strategically relocated to nourish intertidal areas and salt marshes. This approach enhances ecological development while reducing maintenance dredging. This dissertation, conducted within the Mud Motor Pilot Project (2016–2017) in the Dutch Western Wadden Sea, investigates the role of wind in the hydro-morphodynamics of intertidal flats, focusing on sediment dynamics and morphological evolution.

Field campaigns across three years (2016–2018) in the Dutch Wadden Sea provided comprehensive datasets on water levels, sediment concentrations, currents, waves, and bed-level changes. Analysis revealed wind's significant influence on hydrodynamics. Opposing winds to tidal currents could reverse tidal flows, especially in higher intertidal zones. A newly developed analytical model validated with field data quantified the nonlinear interactions between wind- and tide-driven flows.

The findings emphasize the pivotal role of wind direction in sediment transport. Low to moderate winds in alignment with tidal residual transport facilitate sediment accumulation in low-energy zones, while short periods of opposing winds resuspend and redistribute this sediment. These wind-driven sediment fluxes critically shape short- and long-term sediment dynamics in systems like the Wadden Sea.

Moreover, the research identifies a "window of opportunity" for tidal flat accretion, driven by temporal sequences of sediment deposition and over-consolidation under favorable wind conditions. Sediment gains sufficient strength to resist erosion only through prolonged drying processes influenced by wind-driven water level set-down.

This study underscores the complexity of wind's impact on intertidal ecosystems, offering insights for restoration projects to better integrate natural processes. By accounting for wind effects, these projects can improve predictions and identify new restoration opportunities. ... Read more

Sand wave is one of the large-scale seabed morphological features with a typical wave height of metres and a wavelength of hundreds of metres. Its mobile nature causes a nuisance to offshore infrastructure and marine transport. Pre-sweeping is a construction procedure commonly involved in submarine utilities installation to dredge existing sand waves but recovery of sand waves is usually observed after dredging. The underlying processes of sand wave recovery remain relatively underexplored. Given the potential implications for improved dredging planning, this thesis aims to investigate the drivers of sand wave recovery and examine the modelling performance of Delft3D FM on the recovery process through a case study. The numerical model is the first 3D morphological model specifically for simulating sand wave recovery after pre-sweeping. With the incorporation of DelftBlue and MORFAC, computational efficiency has been significantly enhanced. The results show that the transverse slope effect and the oblique current flow supply sediment into the dredged area causing sand wave recovery. This study also elaborates on the two stages in the recovery: an adaption period referring to the morphological adaption of the dredged profile in response to the forcing and a subsequent regeneration period referring to the growth of a feature developed during the adaption period. Although the precise estimation of the recovery duration by Delft3D FM remains challenging, this pioneering research provides an explanation on how tidal flow drives the recovery and reveals the accomplishment of Delft3D FM in modelling the phenomenon. Further exploration of this subject, such as the impact due to storm and the influence of trench configuration, is suggested to further enrich our understanding of sand wave recovery. ... Read more

To reduce computational efforts, surrogate models have been developed for dune erosion prediction. Current surrogate models can describe the relationship between the XBeach input and output (Athanasiou, 2022) and provides a prediction of a morphological indicator based on a parameterized input (profile shape parameters and hydrodynamics). In this research, first steps are taken to set-up a surrogate model that is able to deal with spatial input and the prediction of actual profile shapes along the Holland Coast. Using a convolutional neural network structure (U-Net), several model set-ups are explored and scaled-up to a realistic storm scenario along the Holland Coast. ... Read more

Mangrove forests are important (sub)tropical intertidal ecosystems providing coastal protection and other ecosystem services like carbon storage and biodiversity. In view of the loss of these forests many rehabilitation projects have started, but unfortunately these efforts often fail. A main cause for coastal erosion is a disrupted (fine) sediment balance due to human interventions. This imbalance prevents establishment of propagules (floating mangrove seeds) at intertidal areas and the early growth of planted mangroves. Coastal solutions such as permeable dams have aimed to stop the erosion, but we need additional systematic methodologies to understand the coastal system.

The objective of this thesis is to extend the physical and ecological understanding of coastal mangrove systems, especially of currents, sediment pathways and propagule pathways, to improve rehabilitation strategies using Demak (Central Java, Indonesia) as study area. Demak's coastline suffers from erosion problems, originating from extensive land use by fish ponds and land subsidence. An idealized morphostatic 3D model was set up in Delft3D-4 to simulate the hydrodynamics of the area, influenced by the interaction between flows due to river discharge, tides and wind. The simulations are used as input for the SedTRAILS particle tracking model to compute sediment and propagule pathways.

The model results support that sediment supplied by alongshore currents and riverine sediment could serve as source for the coastline. The river plume is at the same time obstructing as well as trapping sediment and propagules, because stratification prevents mixing of the sea and river water. However, sediments suspended near the bed could be transported underneath the river plume towards the coast by estuarine circulation. Another lesson learnt is that sediment (suspended in the water column) and propagules (floating around the water surface) do not follow the same pathways, as for propagule dispersal the wind direction is of much larger influence than tidal currents. The simulations confirmed that seasonal variability in wind direction could significantly influence the establishment area and availability of propagules, and old fish pond bunds can increase the establishment area for propagules. Sensitivity analysis show that the timing of propagule release within one tidal cycle (flood-ebb) influences the probability to successfully establish on the nearby coast. A propagule survival module is developed (based on inundation-free period and bed shear stress) as stormy seasons may increase the sediment establishment, but the larger bed shear stresses may lower the survival of propagules.

Although this modelling study is focusing on Demak, there are many other similar mangrove coasts around the world where an idealized model would enable to understand where the sediment and propagules are going and the travel time from source to sink. Permeable bamboo dams would be recommended to add to the model in further research, because they could increase the survival of propagules by reducing bed shear stresses and increase the establishment of propagules by trapping them. In conclusion, this research has made a start in counteracting coastal erosion and improving the success of mangrove forest rehabilitation by studying sediment and propagule pathways, and developing a propagule survival module. ... Read more

Mangrove forests are important wetland ecosystems that inhabit intertidal zones within tropical and sub-tropical latitudes. They offer a diverse array of ecosystem services, including coastal protection and carbon sequestration. Despite their significance, global mangrove cover has declined in recent decades, prompting various restoration initiatives, most of which often fail due to a lack of system understanding of the local mangrove habitat and associated physical and biological processes. A method gaining prominence involves the use of permeable dams to restore the sediment balance along eroding coastlines, thereby facilitating the restoration of mangroves in the area. These dams help dissipate the approaching waves and reduce current magnitudes, thus creating a low energy environment behind them, ideal for sediment deposition. However, a comprehensive understanding of the system-wide implications of utilisation of permeable dams remains largely unexplored.

The study is focused on examining the response of a coastal system to structural presence, based on currents, waves and sediment and propagule pathways, to optimise restoration strategies. The coastline of Demak in Indonesia is chosen as the system to be modelled due to the persistent erosion problem in the region and the ongoing use of permeable and impermeable structures to mitigate the problem. A nested model was set-up in Delft3D-4 to estimate the flow hydrodynamics resulting from river discharge, tide and wind forcing in the area. Wave propagation in the region was also modelled using Delft3D-4 with a standalone nested wave model. Output from the hydrodynamic models served as input for the Lagrangian particle tracking model, SedTRAILS, to compute the sediment and propagule pathways.

The hydrodynamic models demonstrate a decrease in both current magnitude and wave activity behind the structures, with a greater reduction observed in the case of impermeable structures. However, the radius of influence is constrained to less than a kilometre from the structures. The sediment pathways reveal reduced sediment movement behind the structures. However, the sediment imported due to the structures are sourced from within the intertidal basin which could trigger coastline retreat in the region. Additional tests uncover impermeable structures with larger length to opening size ratio, placed closer to the mangrove fringe to be able to retain sediment with comparatively higher efficiency. In case of propagules, the trapping behaviour of the structures is less apparent, with dependencies on the relative location of the structure to the sources and the direction of wind. In Demak, when structures are located relatively offshore to the propagule sources, they are able to trap the propagules, thereby creating a possibility for mangrove restoration. The study concludes that coastal structures enhance sediment and propagule retention, with varying efficacy depending on the type, location and length of the structure, suggesting their potential utility as a valuable tool for mangrove restoration. ... Read more

Spectral wave models are widely used for wave prediction over large spatio-temporal scales. Over global scales, spectral models (e.g. WAM and WAVEWATCH III) are used regularly by environmental modelling centers, such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the American National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), in order to support human activity at sea. Along the coasts, practitioners rely on spectral models which are designated to the coastal environment (e.g. SWAN and TOMAWAC) for applications such as coastal hazard assessment, future coastal development, planning of defense strategies for coastal safety, evacuation planning of coastal communities and so forth.
An important property that characterizes the spectral approach and enables its applicability for large scales is efficiency. This property is achieved owing to the simple wave description that underlies its formulation. Specifically, the spectral approach represents ocean wave fields as quasi-Gaussian, quasi-homogeneous and quasi-stationary processes. These convenient statistical properties provide a full statistical description of wave fields based on the energy spectrum alone, and therefore, allow to describe the waves in the ocean in a complete statistical sense through the solution of a single transformation equation - the energy balance equation.
The validity of this statistical modelling framework is based on the weak (in the mean) wave forcing and the dispersion effects. These two agents provide reasonable justifications that the deviation from the assumed statistical properties (i.e. Gaussianity, homogeneity and stationarity) is kept negligible in the course of wave evolution. While these arguments are reasonable in the open ocean (where dispersive effects are strong and wave processes are characterized by large scales), they become somewhat loose for the coastal environment (where wave dispersion weakens and wave processes develop rapidly). Evidently, processes like medium-induced wave interferences and energy exchanges due to shallow water nonlinearity are not properly represented under this statistical framework.
This study is set forward with the aim of advancing the spectral modelling capabilities in coastal waters by allowing the development of inhomogeneous and non-Gaussian statistics. To this end, the effort of this work is directed to three different parts, concerning three principle issues. The first part considers the formal connection between the classical deterministic formulation (e.g. the Euler equations) and the statistical formulation given by the so-called Wigner-Weyl formulation (a statistical framework that includes the information of wave interferences and reduces to the energy balance equation when interference effects are negligible). The second parts aims to generalize the Wigner-Weyl formulation (which presently accounts for wave-bottom interactions) to allow for the interaction of waves and ambient currents. Finally, the third part is devoted to the investigation of the quadratic modelling approach which defines the starting point for the present phase-averaged formulation of shallow water nonlinearity.
The objective of the first part of this study is achieved by showing the equivalence between a formal definition of the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator of waves over variable bathymetry and the Weyl operator of the dispersion relation. This equivalence opens the door to a formal use of Weyl calculus, based on which the Wigner-Weyl formulation is formally derived. This result establishes the desired formal link between the deterministic formulation for water waves and the statistical formulation given by the Wigner-Weyl formulation, which includes the energy balance equation as a statistically well-defined limiting case. In the second part of this study, the Wigner-Weyl formulation for water waves is extended to account for wave-current interactions. The outcome is a generalized action balance model that is able to predict the evolution of the wave statistics over variable media, while preserving statistical contributions due to wave interferences. Comparisons with results of the SWAN model and the REF/DIF 1 model through several examples verify model performance and demonstrate that retention of interference contributions is essential for accurate prediction of wave statistics in shear-current-induced focal zones. Finally, the third part of this study explores the predictive capabilities of the quadratic approach. This is performed by analyzing the nonlinear properties of six different quadratic formulations, three of which are of the Boussinesq type and the other three are referred to as fully dispersive formulations. It is found that while the Boussinesq formulations predict reliably the nonlinear development of coastal waves, the predictions by the fully dispersive formulations tend to be affected by false developments of modulational instability. As a result, the predicted fields by the fully dispersive formulations are characterized by unexpectedly strong modulations of the sea-swell part and associated unexpected infragravity response. Additionally, this part of the study also presents an attempt to push the limits of the predictive capabilities of the quadratic approach. The outcome is the model QuadWave1D: a fully dispersive quadratic model for coastal wave prediction in one dimension. Based on a wide set of examples (including monochromatic, bichromatic and irregular wave conditions), it is found that the new formulation presents superior forecasting capabilities of both the sea-swell components and the infragravity field.
In summary, the overall effort of this study provides an additional step toward the broader goal of efficient and accurate spectral modelling capabilities of coastal waves. This step includes strengthening the theoretical foundations of the spectral approach, improving the spectral description of wave transformation over spatial inhomogeneity and helping to minimize the errors associated with the spectral formulation of shallow water nonlinearity. Ultimately, this study also points on and prepares the background to additional required model developments. ... Read more

The coastal safety of the dunes are of high importance for low laying countries (Chen et al., 2017). This is especially true for the Netherlands as it is used officially as a safety measure against flooding from extreme weather since 1984 (Rijkswaterstaat, 1989). As of current 1D modelling of the waves is an acceptable method for the Dutch coast to assess the safety of the dunes (Den Heijer, 2013). For assessing the dune coastal safety the 98t h percentile of the runup R2% (Stockdon et al., 2006) is used for defining the wave response during a storm on the dunes. The current dune coastal safety studies consider bound waves (infragravity and sea- swell waves) propagating from offshore to nearshore. However, due to the Dutch coast being located at a very large semi-enclosed basin additional free infragravity waves can be present during a storm next to the bound waves that are reflected from other coasts (Daouk, 2020) as leaky waves (Herbers et al., 1995), and potentially increasing the R2% magnitude. Here we show that the R2% with the additional free infragravity waves in the wave domain can have a significant response on the dune coastal safety. The additional free infragravity waves can have tens of centimetres of R2% magnitude increase that is dependent on the slope of the domain. For the additional free infragravity waves a higher R2% is observed for steeper slopes, while a larger R2% growth is observed at the milder slopes when the free infragravity waves are initially introduced to the slope. The dune coastal safety assessments conducted thus far do not consider the effects from leaky waves from other coasts, therefore underestimating the safety provided from the dunes against flooding. With the research conducted by considering additional free infragravity waves with the traditionally bound waves originating in a storm, a better insight can be provided for dune coastal safety. As a result, companies and governmental bodies such as Rijkswaterstaat in the Netherlands that assess the coastal safety of the dunes can benefit by having a more complete representation of the coastal hydrodynamics that can as a result prevent flooding or provide dune nourishment after the episodic event (Sallenger, 2000). ... Read more

The Building with Nature approach has been gaining ground in hydraulic engineering, increasing the importance of understanding the cross-shore morphodynamic processes. The intertidal zone, where marine and aeolian processes come together, is an important link in the transport of sediment from the sea towards the dunes. The grain size distribution affects the sediment supply in the intertidal zone. This research investigates the effect of marine processes on the cross-shore variations of the grain size distribution in the intertidal zone by using a one-dimensional non linear shallow water XBeach model.
The intertidal zone is subject to shoaling, surf and swash zone processes. The grain size influences the beach slope, the initiation of motion and settling to the bed. The cross-shore sediment transport is the combination of sediment that is stirred up from the bed and subsequently transported. Breaking induced turbulence enhances stirring of sediment from the bed and keeps sediment in suspension. The amount of stirring and the transport direction depends on the wave conditions.
Input and control data for the model study was provided by the Scanex 2020 fieldwork campaign at Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The ADV velocity data combined with a pressure signal has been used for the tidal and incoming wave signal. Cross-shore profiles have been determined in Matlab based on terrestrial laser scans. Soil samples of the intertidal zone were taken with a sand scraper and analyzed with a sieve tower. For the initial grain size distribution is the average distribution of 14 samples on a transect was used. Based on wave, wind and soil sampling data a model period from 29-2-2020 02:00 to 10-3-2020 13:00 was selected.
The XBeach model used is as described by Reniers et al. (2013), but with a time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy and a different implementation of the Riemann boundary. The model consisted of a 176 x 3 grid with a grid size of dx=1 m and dy=5 m. For the initial bathymetry the laser scan of 29-2-2020 02:00 was used. The initial grain size was imposed on all the model grid cells. Additional to the standard run, runs have been performed to research the effect of a storm, the model sensitivity and the effect of aeolian transport.
The model shows a pattern of cross-shore grain size variations with coarser sediment from x=20 to x=56 m, finer sediment from x=57 to x=105 m and fluctuating grain size from x=106 to x=136 m compared to the initial grainsize. After 24 h a grain size pattern establishes with a clear deposition of fine sediment on the upper beach. The pattern remained stable for nearly the full model period. After 200 hours the fines become less prominent and move onshore. On the intratidal scale sediment becomes coarser when submerged and finer when emerged, except near the high water line where fine sediment is deposited.
The model reproduced the same pattern of grain size variations over the cross-shore as was found in the soil samples of 10-3-2020. As the cross-shore grain size pattern remained stable during the model period, processes on the spring-neap time scale or storm time scale seem to govern the cross-shore variations of the grain size. For the aeolian transport this would imply that for this model period the fine sediment supply is controlled on the same time scales. Nevertheless, considering that aeolian transport could have resulted in coarsening of the fines in the upper intertidal zone, processes over a single tide, could be more important than was visible in the model result.

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The coastline of Demak, Indonesia has been eroded during the last 15 years. To restore the natural coastal protection which existed out of mangroves forest, permeable dams, consisting of bamboo poles with a brushwood filling, have been built to attenuate the waves and facilitate sedimentation behind the dams and thus creating a habitat for mangroves. However these designs required a lot of maintenance, so a new type of design is proposed without a filling of brushwood, containing only vertical bamboo poles. Next to this the possibility to include aquaculture in the design is proposed. Therefore this study assesses the wave transformation by the new designs in Demak, Indonesia with the numerical wave model SWASH. In order to do that first the hydrodynamic conditions are analyzed to obtain the design conditions for the structures, and then SWASH is validated against laboratory experiments to find the right drag coefficient values. The design wave conditions are based on the local water depth, offshore wave heights and periods and local bathymetry. The offshore waves are based on a dataset from WaveWatch III, which compares well with measurements of a local storm event. The dataset of WaveWatch III is filtered and extrapolated to determine the wave conditions for return periods(R) of 1 and 5 years. This resulted in offshore waves with Hm0 = 2.08 and 2.39m, and Tp = 6.9 and 7.5 s respectively. The water level is mainly influenced by the tidal elevation and the surge levels. The surge levels are obtained from a risk assessment of the coast of North Java (Willemsen et al., 2019), which vary between 0.63 to 0.68mfor R = 1 and 5 years respectively. The tidal levels are determined using the water depth measurements of two transects from Van Domburg et al. (2018) and analysed with Matlab tool Utide by Codiga (2011), resulting in a spring tidal range of 85 cm and a neap tidal range of 50 cm.
Four different configurations from the experiments of Jansen (2019) are used to validate SWASH: single row, longitudinal(the spacing in flow direction is longer than the lateral spacing), open uniform and dense uniform configuration. These configurations are modelled in the numerical wave model SWASH by use of the vegetation module. The most influential factors are: the drag coefficient, the way to describe mass conservation and the number of stems(cylinders) per m2. For the drag coefficient the bulk drag coefficient of Gijon Mancheno et al. (2021) is used, which contains factors for sheltering, blockage and the KC state of the flow. For the densely packed configurations the bulk drag coefficient proved to have a better agreement than the drag coefficient of a single cylinder. The sensitivity to the number of stems per m2 is small when implementing the longitudinal configuration as an average amount of stems perm2 or by specifying the individual rows of the configuration and so locally increasing the number of stems. Three methods of describing the mass conservation in SWASH are evaluated: by means of a cross sectional approach that is expressed by the blockage factor in the bulk drag coefficient Gijon Mancheno et al. (2021), by a volumetric approach due to activating the porosity in SWASH which means that the blockage factor cannot be included in the drag coefficient and by a combination of these two. For the longitudinal configuration the best agreement is found the cross sectional approach and for the single row configuration the best agreement is found by the volumetric approach.
Once SWASH is validated, the designs of several structures are investigated. Firstly, a design consisting out of two rows of bamboo poles is considered where the spacing between the rows is varied to find an optimum distance. The transmission rate Et /Ei decreased from 75% to 55% with a spacing sx = 0.42 m to 5.8 m, larger spacings did not result in less transmission. If one wants to be conservative at least three rows are needed to have a lower transmission rate of 50 %. When mussels are considered, the structures have to be placed in deeper water as mussels can only grow between MLWS and 40 cm above the bed. To provide enough space for mussel growth, the poles have to be placed more sparsely. The effect of a larger water depth in combination with a limited pole length and sparse structures is larger than the extra drag and frontal area provided by mussels, especially since they did not cover the whole pole length, and resulted in high transmission rates. It is thus recommended to, or place a high number of rows of mussel poles or place a few rows without mussels followed by poles for mussels. This decision however also depends on benefits that mussel poles may bring and the cost of the materials, therefore a cost/benefit analysis is required.
This thesis found an efficient design that can be used in reducing wave attenuation along muddy coasts without the need of a brushwood filling. Hereby it provides an economically and user friendly alternative with respect to the current design, as it requires less material and maintenance.
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Over the last decades, mangrove forests have suffered immense and rapid losses worldwide. In recognition of their important socio-economic and environmental functions, many attempts have been made to both protect the remaining mangrove coastlines and restore eroding sites. Unfortunately, many rehabilitation attempts have failed, lacking a thorough system understanding of mangrove-mud coasts.
Some mangrove-mud coasts are protected on their seaward side by sandy ridges (called `cheniers'). They protect against wave attack and can help to protect vulnerable mangrove-mud coastlines. In order to sustainably restore mangrove coasts, chenier dynamics need to be understood at the temporal and spatial scales relevant for mangrove establishment (daily to yearly variability driven by waves and tides). This dissertation aims to advance our understanding of chenier dynamics within the context of an eroding mangrove-mud coast. The severely eroded coastline of Demak, Indonesia, is used as a case study.
We started with a field campaign in Demak, observing the cross-shore dynamics of a single chenier. The observations revealed that cheniers can be very dynamic in relatively calm conditions. Using velocity moments as a proxy for the sediment transport, we have explored the role of tides and waves in the observed chenier dynamics. Tides drive the chenier landward, especially when the water depth over the chenier crest is low (high crest level relative to mean sea level). Waves only generate substantial sediment transport when the chenier is submerged. Overall, the cross-shore chenier dynamics are very sensitive to the timing of tides and waves: most transport takes place when high water levels coincide with (relatively) high waves.
While our observations showed the chenier to be highly dynamic in the short term, satellite images reveal that over longer timescales the position of the chenier remains more or less stable within the intertidal zone. This is in contrast to cheniers described in literature, which only migrate landward until they reach a stable position above tidal influences. We have developed an idealised chenier model to explore this dynamically stable position. The model simulates cross-shore chenier dynamics under daily wave and tidal influences and is able to predict both onshore and offshore migration. Onshore migration is mainly driven by wave action, while offshore migration is induced by a tidal phase lag or storms. This phase lag is caused by drowning of the coastal plain due to subsidence. For certain combinations of waves and tides, the model predicts a dynamically stable chenier. In the absence of a phase lag and storm season effect, the model yields a `classic' stable chenier that welds onto the shoreline by onshore migration.
We used Delft3D to explore the formation of cheniers through wave winnowing (the sorting of sand and mud by waves). We have identified three phases of chenier development: (1) a winnowing phase, during which mud is washed out of the seabed initially consisting of a mixture of sand and mud, (2) a sand transport phase, when the sand in the upper layer is transported onshore, and (3) a crest formation phase, during which a chenier crest rapidly develops at the landward limit of onshore sediment transport. The main mechanism driving onshore sand transport is wave asymmetry. During calm conditions, sand transport takes place within a narrow band limiting the volume of sand delivered nearshore, and therefore no chenier develops. In contrast, average storm conditions mobilise sufficient sand for a crest to develop. Our results thus reveal that chenier formation through wave winnowing does not require extreme storm conditions. Our study also shows that chenier formation through wave winnowing is a relatively slow process, with the largest time scales associated with the the first two phases of chenier development: winnowing and sand transport.
Overall, this dissertation contributes to our understanding of cross-shore chenier dynamics. While very dynamic in the short term, cheniers can maintain a stable position in the intertidal zone for certain combinations of waves and tides. As such, they can contribute to mangrove rehabilitation by creating windows of opportunity for mangrove establishment. Due to its rapid subsidence rates, the coast of Demak provides an analogue for a global drowning of coastlines under anticipated accelerated sea level rise. In fact, cheniers may form a natural defense mechanism of drowning coastal plains. As a result, small changes to the coastal plain (e.g. constructing a dike) could have a significant impact, disturbing the chenier dynamics and interrupting their negative feedback on coastal erosion. This work has illustrated the complexity and interconnectedness of coastal systems, a crucial notion in designing successful protection strategies for mangrove-mud coasts. ... Read more

This study aims at developing a new set of equations of mean motion in the presence of surface waves, which is practically applicable from deep water to the coastal zone, estuaries, and outflow areas. The Generalized Lagrangian Mean method is employed to derive a set of Quasi-Eulerian mean three-dimensional equations of motion, where effects of surface waves are included through source terms. The obtained equations are expressed to the second-order of wave amplitude. Whereas the classical Eulerian-mean equations of motion are only applicable below the wave trough, the new set of equations is valid until the mean water surface even in the presence of finite-amplitude surface waves. Both conservative and non-conservative waves are under consideration, especially in the presence of a strong ambient current. A concept of three-dimensional wave radiation stress is introduced to express the effects of surface waves on the currents. It is an extension of the classical radiation stress concept. Especially, the relationship between three-dimensional wave radiation stress and vortex force representations is investigated in detail in conditions of both conservative and nonconservative waves. Through that relationship, comparisons between the new set of equations and other sets of equations implemented in recent well-known numerical models are given. It is useful for selecting a suitable numerical ocean model to simulate the mean current in a specific condition of waves combined with currents.
A two-dimensional numerical model (2DV model) is developed to validate the new set of equations of motion. The model passes the test of steady monochromatic waves propagating on a slope without dissipation (adiabatic condition). This is a primary test for equations of mean motion with a known analytical solution. In addition to this, experimental data for the interaction between random waves and currents in both non-breaking and breaking waves are employed to validate the 2DV model. As shown by this successful implementation and validation, the implementation of the new set of equations in any 3D model code is straightforward and may be expected to provide consistent results from deep water to the surfzone, in both conditions of weak and strong ambient currents.
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Mangrove forests effectively function as natural flood defences, and their deforestation has exposed millions of people worldwide to coastal erosion and flooding. Since mangroves require a stable sedimentary environment, stopping coastal erosion is a necessary step for their restoration. Bamboo structures have thus been built to induce accretion at the coast by attenuating waves. However, these structures often fail to rehabilitate mangroves, likely due to the lack of guidelines for their design.
This thesis investigates the effect of structures formed by bamboo poles on waves, currents, and sediment transport, to develop physics based models for structure design. These effects were studied through flume experiments with scaled structure prototypes, field experiments in Demak (Indonesia), 1D morphodynamic modelling (with the model XMgrove, calibrated with field measurements), and remote sensing.
Models to predict structure performance were developed for waves and currents. Flume experiments showed ways to optimize structure designs. For instance, wave dissipation per pole is maximum for dense rows of poles with large spacing in the wave direction. Modelling scenarios with XMgrove suggest that the optimal structure location is site-dependent, and that subsidence rates in Demak may be too high to be counteracted with structures. A large-scale method to find potential restoration sites was also developed and applied in Bangladesh.
As such, the physics-based tools, together with the mapping method presented in this thesis, open up the path to optimize and generalize mangrove restoration efforts. ... Read more

Recent studies have shown that flood risk contributes to a major part of the total risk caused by natural hazards in Western Europe. Especially in the United Kingdom, flood risk has been identified as a substantial threat, which is likely to continue to grow due to (coastal) urbanisation, sea level rise and climate change. A separate study has shown that common analysis practice may underestimate flood risk due to the exclusion of compound flood events. These are flood events with multiple flood causes, such as a combined coastal and pluvial flood event. Floods are often caused by a complex system of multiple dependent flood driving mechanisms, which vary and interact as time progresses. Various fundamentally different methodologies have been developed to estimate the susceptibility of an area to floods. There is no singular best methodology which can be applied to every problem. Due to the complex nature of flood events, it is vital to understand these methodologies and their characteristics to represent the susceptibility to flooding correctly. Misrepresentation of flood susceptibility can lead to inefficient decision making, or worse, insufficient flood safety. The goal of this research is to compare several flood susceptibility estimation methodologies (including coastal, pluvial, and compound flooding), to observe the results and clarify notable differences in outcomes. A case study is conducted on the coastal town of Eastbourne, which has various common, but non-trivial characteristics. The flood susceptibility of Eastbourne is estimated using various estimation techniques, such as statistical analysis and numerical modelling. Not only did this give insight into the flood susceptibility of Eastbourne, but it also illustrated the capabilities of the selected methodologies. Eastbourne has a history of coastal and pluvial/fluvial flooding. In order to include the physical mechanisms of these flood types, it was decided to use relatively computationally expensive flood susceptibility estimation methodologies. Hence, use was made of sensibly chosen storm scenarios, based on extreme value analysis. The statistical analysis started with a general exploratory data analysis in order to find notable dependence structures between variables. Afterwards, two variants of extreme value analysis on reanalysed historical data were used to create "smart" scenarios. First of all, the peak over threshold approach (POT) was used to create scenarios in which a singular flood type was dominating. Secondly, the conditional approach was applied to create compound storm scenarios. In total, 8 different scenarios were created. These scenarios gave the input conditions for the models. At the coastal boundary, a spectral action balance resolving wave model SWAN was used to estimate close shore conditions based on offshore scenario input. These nearshore conditions where then used to estimate overtopping rates into the inundation domain via three different overtopping methodologies. First of all, a empirical equation (the "new" overtopping formula of the EuroTop manual) has been applied. Secondly, a Gaussian process emulator (Bayonet GPE), an approach similar to a neural network, has been applied. And lastly, use was made of a numerical hydrodynamic model SWASH to simulate wave transformation and overtopping. This last approach is especially interesting since numerical models have the ability to improve upon spectral action balance resolving wave models. Numerical models can implicitly account for infra gravity waves, a physical mechanism that is known to impact overtopping rates, something that spectral action balance resolving models struggle with. The numerical hydrodynamic model HEC-RAS, is used for the simulation of inundation caused by the storm scenarios. All 8 scenarios are calculated twice, in order to compare simulations made with two sets of governing equations: The diffusive wave approximation of the shallow water equations (DSW) and the full shallow water equations (SWE), also known as the Saint Venant equations. The DSW approach has the advantage of being relatively computationally efficient, whilst SWE approach has the benefit of including a more accurate representation of physics. Since the DSW approach is more computationally efficient, it allows for solving on a higher spatial resolution. The model was applied to the part of Eastbourne, which is deemed to have the highest flood risk. It was then fed with overtopping discharges at the coastal flood defences and used precipitation events as defined by the respective scenarios. After the simulation, flood maps have been generated to compare the inundation patterns. Inundation curves have been made as well, for a more objective and apprehensible comparison of the severity of the flood events. The overtopping results showed that all three approaches agreed reasonably well, and were able to estimate plausible overtopping rates. There were no overtopping measurements for validation purposes, but the overtopping magnitude does agree with the coastal flood history of Eastbourne. The numerical method is more advanced than the empirical formula and the GPE. However, the results also showed a large sensitivity with regards to the (vertical) discretisation. Furthermore, the numerical approach, as applied in this research, did require explicit inclusion of refraction and fitting of breaking behaviour based on computationally expensive simulations, in order to give reasonable estimations. The numerical approach is promising and has the potential to become more accurate than the other methods considered. However, in its current state the method does seem as uncertain as the other considered approaches, whilst being more complex to implement. Lastly, regarding the comparison of governing equations for the estimation of inundation, it was found that the low spatial resolution SWE approach systematically underestimated inundation severity with regards to the high spatial resolution DSW approach. In addition to this, it was found that the times between the storm peaks and the inundation peaks was systematically lower for the SWE simulations than for the DSW simulations. Both these phenomena can be explained as a consequence of using a different spatial discretisation. When using the same spatial discretisation these effects disappear and the inundation curves agree well. There are, however, still some smaller local differences between simulations visible on the inundation maps. In the case of Eastbourne, modelled as described in this report, it is thus more important to accurately include topological features than to accurately represent the flow physics. This could, however, be different when considering higher spatial resolutions. ... Read more