1. Home Home
  2. Organizations
  3. Grant 62384 (University of ...
  4. Numerical Modeling Effects ...

Numerical Modeling Effects of Hurricane-Induced Waves and Water Levels

Coastal sand dunes provide a natural protection against strong wave forces/attack and storm surge. The dunes help protect coastal community and infrastructure and prevents or reduces coastal flooding. Therefore, it is important to protect, enhance and/or build coastal dunes. Because the preservation and restoration of coastal sand dunes is a community responsibility, the presented initiative seeks to educate beachgoers about the adverse effect of its destruction (i.e, erosion, inland inundations, no area to attenuate storm wave energy, no area for turtle nesting). A numerical model was implemented to replicate Hurricane Maria wave and water level conditions with and without coastal dunes at selected sites and show how far inland flooding could stretch without the natural protection of coastal dunes. To accurately simulated and predicted the storm-induced conditions, a fully nonlinear, phase-resolving, time-stepping Boussinesq model, FUNWAVE, was used which comprise shoaling, refraction, diffraction, wave breaking, friction, etc. over irregular bathymetry, wave-structure interaction, and wave-induced circulation. A two and one-dimensional analysis was performed to study the spatial and temporal pattern of the wave field and water level conditions. It is important to recall that this initiative is only a simple analysis, more hypothetical than realistic, because a more detailed analysis needs to be performed to consider 2- and/or 3-dimensional physical features, local geomorphology, wind conditions, storm surge, storm-induced currents, and sediment transport, as well as other oceanographic parameters, to understand the dynamics controlling the local nearshore/coastal processes.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated December 14, 2022, 19:28 (UTC)
Created November 9, 2021, 11:50 (UTC)
Data Maintainer Patricia Chardon and Robert Mayer
Email Address patricia.chardon@upr.edu
Metric Category Ecological
Metric Class Dune Geomorphology
Reporting Years 2019, 2021, 2020, 2018
States and Territories PR
Measurement Stage Monitoring, Baseline
Restoration Activity Dune