HIGH-RESOLUTION MONITORING OF NEARSHORE MORPHOLOGIC CHANGE
The Corps’ mission to maintain the U.S. coastline and protect valuable coastal infrastructure from storm damage is costly. Recent data from Western Carolina University notes the total cost of nourishing beaches is nearly $10 billion in the U.S. alone. However, reliable predictive capabilities for nearshore hydrodynamics and morphology changes are needed to optimize project designs, extend project lifecycles and promote more resilient coastlines. Corps research focuses on using novel, high-resolution oceanographic field datasets collected at the ERDC Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, to directly inform development and validation of improved predictive methods for sediment transport and morphology evolution in sandy beach environments. This work has led to improvements in the capabilities and skill of the Corps-developed numerical modeling suite, CSHORE, which can be used to simulate beach nourishment evolution, with particular emphasis on coastline response to extreme storms. Continued advancements through investment in nearshore processes research will enable the Corps to predict morphology change at time scales of relevance for managing coastal sediment resources and optimal sand placement.
24
