Intro
Science-based solutions for effective environmental management and coastal engineering applications.
Environmental Data and Climate Summaries
The first step to understanding site-specific coastal dynamics is to define the environmental forcing parameters. MetOcean Solutions can provide a detailed assessment of the local wave, wind, tidal and hydrodynamic conditions.
Typically, a 12-year high-resolution hindcast is undertaken, reproducing the metocean conditions at 1-hourly intervals, with calibration / validation using suitable local measured data (if available). These data can be provided as point timeseries or gridded files, as well as a detailed analysis report on the parameters specific to the project requirements. We also provide boundary conditions for local area numerical models (waves and currents).
Marine Forecasts for Coastal Management
A coastal hazard warning tool is a standard feature in our marine forecasting system. Users can specify parameters and thresholds to initiate an automated email alert service to a distribution list. For example if a positive storm surge and high tide coincides with large waves, hazardous coastal inundation conditions may occur at vulnerable locations. Email warnings at T-48 and T-24 hours provide responders with notice to further monitor the conditions.
This type of service is possible when a high-resolution forecasting domain has been established for a region. For more information see the Forecasting page.
Sediment Transport and Coastal Erosion Studies
Specialist numerical tools are used to examine the coastal and sediment dynamics of a region. Our approach is first to understand the dominant processes of the site, and then use that knowledge to design further numerical studies and/or physical measurements. We have applied these techniques in a range of environments, such as accretion around an exposed breakwater tip, and the dynamics of an exposed, barred shoreline.
Typical methodologies include:
- Analysis of historical shoreline response
- Characterising the wave climate, including the ambient and storm conditions
- Examining the hydrodynamics; wind-driven and tidal currents plus wave-driven flows
- Sediment transport modeling, including timeseries morphology updating
Hydrodynamics, Dispersal and Particle Tracking
For coastal and estuarine environments, we have a suite of models available to examine the 2D and 3D hydrodynamics. Advanced particle tracking tools have been developed to operate with the hindcast flow fields, allowing dispersal and plume dynamics to be rapidly post-processed.
We have the tools and experience to simulate the dispersal of:
- Suspended sediments
- Sewage, including microbial die-off
- Fluvial discharges
- Invasive spread of organisms by passive advection