PROPOSAL NO.: CTS-047014, 0426811, 0427115 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: P. LYNETT, B. RAUBENHEIMER, P. LIU INSTITUTION: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, WOODS HOLE OCEAN INST., CORNELL UNIVERSITY
COLLABORATIVE: ITR COASTAL MODELING AND MANAGEMENT
The goal of this grant to develop a coupled, hybrid hydrodynamic computational model for simulation and prediction of complex water wave processes from the deep ocean to the shoreline. The model will be physically comprehensive, with total domain scales on the order of hundred's of kilometers, yet with a nearshore grid resolution less than a meter. To include this great range of scales, a number of diverse hydrodynamic models, with various but overlapping physical and practical constraints, will be integrated to create a hybrid hydrodynamic software tool. The method of interfacing the different hydrodynamic models will be founded in distributed computing techniques, thereby allowing for utilization of computer cluster resources. In addition, each of the individual models in the hybrid system will be parallelized, leading to the creation of a massively parallel and distributed simulation platform. Coupled with the hybrid hydrodynamic model will be sediment transport formulations, such that morphological change in the nearshore (i.e. beach erosion) can be simulated. These formulations will employ the fine resolution and high fidelity wave forcing from the hydrodynamic model, including the effects of strong turbulence in the breaker, surf, and swash zones. Validation of the coupled model will use established datasets from field studies and controlled experiments. The technology infrastructure developed to pass information between the various coupled models will be transparent and expandable, such that as more sophisticated models become available, they may be plugged into the existing simulator. The coupled simulator will be utilized by practicing engineers for design of coastal protection measures and by policy makers who may need better estimations of wave impact and erosion due to extreme events. By influencing future design and policy decisions, the simulator will contribute towards the goal of sustainable coastal margins. Education and outreach will be accomplished through the unveiling of a web-based, open access, coastal simulator. The website will be completely free access, open to college and high school students, as well as academics and engineers. The coastal simulator will be used remotely for senior level coastal engineering design classes. It would be of immense impact to be able to show these students first-hand the level of uncertainty and possible error in common engineering tools through comparison with the high accuracy model developed here, such that they are in a much better position to interpret the predictions when they become practicing engineers.
Jointly funded by the Division of Chemical & Transport Systems, Fluid Dynamics & Hydraulics (FDH) program, and the Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE).
