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Cohort 4-5 Case Studies - Life Post-WISE
Our Students
RESEARCH THEmE: COASTAL AND mARINE PROCESSES
Benjamin Beylard, Cardiff (Cohort 3)
Project: Morphodynamic Modelling of a Nourished Beach Supervisors: Prof Shunqi Pan and Prof Roger Falconer Summary: For several decades now, the socio-economic pressure on coastlines has dramatically accelerated, which in addition to climate change impact, has put an increasing number of people and infrastructure at high risk of coastal flooding. As a potential solution to mitigate this threat, soft engineering methods - particularly beach nourishment - have become more and more popular. To be fully efficient, this technique has required extensive numerical modelling, however several grey areas remain notably in relation to the mixed-sediment dynamic involved. By presenting and using a processbased hydrodynamic and morphodynamic model - COAST2D – and integrating a novel engineering algorithm for dealing with mixed sediment, this work assesses the evolution of a big-scale beach nourishment scheme under both calm and storm conditions.
gwyn Hennessey, Bath (Cohort 3)
Project: Beach Erosion and Recovery Supervisors: Dr Chris Blenkinsopp and Dr Nick McCullen Summary: Due to the ever-increasing pressure on our coastlines from continued development and greater coastal hazard risk, there is a significant need to monitor and understand the coast. Recent years have seen great success in the development of equilibriumtype models which use a simple and efficient method to forecast changing beach width or volume. However, these 1D parameters only provide a basis indicator of beach health and therefore this project uses a new continuous Lidar-based remote monitoring technique to quantify and analyse the erosion/recovery behaviour of a sandy beach, on timescales ranging from minutes to months. This data allows us to investigate the use of higher order moments to provide a more robust quantification of beach health, accounting not only for beach width and volume, but also the distribution of sand volume.
While finishing his PhD thesis Gwyn is working part-time as an Energy Efficiency Consultant for Egni Energy Solutions.
Catherine Leech, Cardiff (Cohort 4)
Supervisors: Prof Reza Ahmadian and Prof Roger Falconer Summary: The UK coast has an abundant tidal resource that could be exploited to help meet our energy needs and decarbonisation targets, but has not yet been deployed due to environmental and financial concerns. This research seeks to answer questions around the hydro-environmental impact of turbines in tidal range structures (TRS), examining the effect on flow velocity and circulation patterns caused by changes in TRS design, specifically TRS shape, bed conditions and turbine spacing. Catherine has now submitted her PhD thesis and is working as a Research Associate at Cardiff University.
Cristina Coker, Exeter (Cohort 5)
Project: Hazards and Drivers of Coastal Cliff Retreat in England Supervisors: Prof Akbar Javadi, Dr Steven Palmer and Dr Barend Van Maanen
Summary: Rocky coasts comprise just over 50% of the world’s coastline. The mechanisms and environmental factors driving coastal retreat are still poorly understood. This project explores utilising freely available LiDAR point cloud data along sections of the English coastline to improve estimates of coastal cliff erosion. Additionally, by linking these with known marine and terrestrial drivers, and taking into account future climate projections, this research hopes to provide further insights on susceptibility to coastal cliff retreat in a changing climate.
Oliver foss, Bath (Cohort 5)
Project: Dynamic Revetments and Composite Beaches – Coastal Protection Inspired by Nature Supervisors: Dr Chris Blenkinsopp and Prof Jun Zang Summary: The continual sea-level rise predicted over the next century poses a significant threat to coastal regions. Preserving the coastline will require innovative coastal protection techniques and structures. A potential defence is to introduce dynamic revetments, a gravel berm placed at the high tide berm. This project provides a detailed study into applicability and behaviour of such structures. Nicolas Hanousek, Cardiff (Cohort 5)
Project: Near and Far-Field Hydro-Environmental Modelling of Marine Renewable Energy Schemes Supervisors: Prof Reza Ahmadian and Prof Roger Falconer Summary: To achieve net-zero targets, countries around the world will need to expand both low-carbon electricity generation and increase storage facilities. This research considers the role of tidal range energy at filling these needs, through the development of both design-based and operational optimisation tools with results carried into hydro-environmental modelling.
Ceri Howells, Cardiff (Cohort 5)
Project: Analysis of Near-Surface Bidirectional Ducted Tidal Stream Turbines Supervisors: Prof Shunqi Pan and Prof Tim O’Doherty Summary: Over the last three decades, renewable energy generation has seen a drastic increase globally, driven by the demand for action on climate change. Numerous countries have responded by declaring a climate emergency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by becoming more efficient and swapping to renewable or low carbon energy sources. This switch has seen an increase in potential volatility in the energy sector, with projected increased demand from the uptake of electric vehicles coupled with the reduction in the use of carbon fuels to generate electricity and becoming more reliant on unpredictable, weather dependent renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. This research seeks to determine the viability of utilising a bi-directional ducted tidal stream turbine, operating in near-surface conditions, to increase the power generated and provide a more predictable and effective device, compared to that of an unducted tidal turbine.
Vivien maertens, Bath (Cohort 5)
Project: Optimisation of Deep-Water Offshore Wind Systems Supervisors: Dr Chris Blenkinsopp, Prof Paul Milewski and Prof Jun Zang Summary: Offshore wind has a huge potential as a viable and competitive source of renewable energy, especially further ashore in deep waters. Hence, research and investment into Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWTs) has increased significantly with an ambition by the UK government to deliver up to 5 GW of floating wind by 2030. This research therefore focuses on the optimisation of the stability and power production of FOWTs. Specifically, the SPAR buoy floating platform structure is being investigated due to its highest stability in deep waters. The aim of this research is to determine the impact of internal waves, which are common in deep water, on the platform’s resilience and performance of individual FOWTs and their arrays.
Santiago martelo Lopez, Cardiff (Cohort 5)
Project: Numerical Modelling of Turbulent Interfacial Flows and FluidStructure Interaction Supervisors: Dr Zhihua Xie and Prof Shunqi Pan Summary: To develop software tools for modelling forces on submerged structures taking into account free-surface and turbulent effects. A new fluid-structure interaction model based on the ghost cell method was implemented in Hydro3D, a finite difference Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation program written in Fortran. Additional contributions were made in the areas of automated detection of the interface between the immersed solid and fluid, new interpolation and integration schemes, postprocessing with Paraview along with a Finite Element package based on third order polynomial elements to account for the solid deformation. To date the current version of the program has been validated against several benchmarks and is capable of modelling waves breaking against seawalls under real tidal conditions with the actual geometry of coastal defences.
Samuel Rowley, Cardiff (Cohort 5)
Project: Flood Risk Modelling and Management in the Middle Severn Catchment Supervisors: Prof Shunqi Pan and Dr Zhihua Xie Summary: The effects of climate change are already evident in both UK and global storms, resulting in catastrophic flooding. Modelling this flooding accurately is key to managing and predicting risks under increasing climate stress. This project seeks to address the effects of extreme flood risk in the River Severn catchment and in particular, the river’s response to unusually large flood events beyond the scope of current predictions.
Our Students
Richard Rees, Cardiff (Cohort 3)
Project: Numerical Investigation into the Effect of Dynamic Pore Water Pressure on Slope Stability Supervisors: Prof Shunqi Pan and Dr Michaela Bray Richard is finalising his PhD thesis for submission and has recently started working for JBA.
Jack Waterhouse, Bath (Cohort 3)
Project: Assessing Risk to Water Security in Complex Coupled Catchment-Reservoir Systems Supervisors: Dr Thomas Kjeldsen and Dr Lee Bryant Summary: Drinking water security in the UK is facing increasing pressure from rising demand, population growth and more frequent periods of drought. Monitoring and regulation of water quality and related internal biogeochemical processes within drinking-water reservoirs is therefore paramount to maintaining security of supply, as well as allowing continued efficient and cost-effective management. This project uses a paired model to provide a comprehensive overview of natural and engineered (i.e. bubble plume mixer) dynamics influencing water quality and ecosystem health in a water-supply reservoir, namely Blagdon Reservoir in Somerset, UK.
Jamie Brown, Bristol (Cohort 4)
Project: Assessing the Combined Effect of CO2-Water Dynamics on Hydrological Processes in Brazil Supervisors: Dr Rafael Rosolem and Dr Ross Woods Summary: Vegetation dynamics optimally adapt to given environmental conditions by maximising their net carbon profit. If we model these processes can they help us understand hydrological fluxes across different climates? Furthermore, can this optimality modelling further our understanding of the sensitivity of carbon-water mechanisms in vegetation to changes in CO2? This project looks at using a vegetation optimality model across multiple biomes in Brazil and the extent at which it can answer these questions. Juliana marcal, Bath (Cohort 5)
Project: Improving Urban Water Security by Sectorisation of the Urban Area and Decentralisation of Water Infrastructure Supervisors: Prof Jan Hofman, Dr Junjie Shen and Prof David Butler (University of Exeter) Industrial Supervisor: Dr Blanca Antizar-Ladislao (Isle Utilities)
Summary: This project investigates downscaling water security assessment to provide detailed information on local challenges and specific needs of neighbourhoods/sectors within the city. The spatial distribution of water security in the urban area can provide a more accurate picture of its diversity. Through understanding of local necessities and identification of areas with specific issues, we can then provide them with decentralised options tailored to the local characteristics and needs, thus improving water security in urban centres.
RESEARCH THEmE: fLOOD RISk AND PREVENTION
Joseph Shuttleworth, Cardiff (Cohort 2)
Project: Numerical Modelling of Transcritical Flows: Applied to Short-Steep Catchments Supervisors: Prof Reza Ahmadian and Prof Roger Falconer
Summary: This projects aims to improve the robustness of flood modelling, by developing a novel one-dimensional numerical model which is capable of modelling a wide variety of environmental conditions, specifically flash floods and steep river catchments.
Joe works for Arup as a Senior Consultant and Engineer.
Laura Devitt, Bristol (Cohort 5)
Project: Understanding the Uncertainties in Large Scale Flood Hazard Mapping Supervisors: Dr Jeff Neal, Prof Thorsten Wagener (University of Potsdam) and Dr Gemma Coxon Summary: Flooding affects more people worldwide than any other environmental hazard. Understanding river flood risk is fundamental for impact assessment of future climate and socio-economic change. There are many large uncertainties that are associated with the methods that are used to assess the impacts of flood hazard, and therefore this project aims to develop an understanding of these uncertainties and how they affect risk estimation. georgios Sarailidis, Bristol (Cohort 5)
Project: Understanding and Estimating Uncertainty in Global Flood Risk Models Supervisors: Dr Francesca Pianosi, Professor Thorsten Wagener (University of Potsdam) and Dr Ross Woods Industrial Supervisor: Prof Rob Lamb (JBA Consulting) Summary: Flood risk assessment is necessary to better manage the risks associated with flooding. Nowadays, numerous flood risk models are available to simulate flood risk at various domain scales, from catchment to regional or even global scale. This involves a complex modelling chain in which each component contains uncertainties that propagate and contribute to the uncertainty in the model output. However, it is still unclear which particular uncertain input factor control the uncertainty in risk estimations in different places and circumstances. In this project, we study the question of uncertainty quantification and attribution across a large and heterogeneous domain, namely the Rhine River basin, whilst also investigating the effect of methodological choices on the uncertainty and sensitivity analysis experiments set-up. We aim to identify spatial patterns of dominant input uncertainties and analyse whether they can be correlated with physical, socio-economic or other characteristics in the domain. Specifically, we are using the JBA Risk Management flood catastrophe model which is capable of simulating risk at such large scales.
Roberto Quaglia, Bristol (Cohort 5)
Project: Statistical Characterisation of Catchment Rainfall and its Connection to Flood Response Supervisors: Dr Ross Woods and Prof Dawei Han Summary: This research focuses on characterising the distribution of several rainfall characteristics that are used to describe storm magnitude and within-storm patterns. The work also aims to define the links between these characteristics and other flood-generating variables. The adopted methodologies will be relevant to flood frequency derivation on ungauged catchments and will improve our understanding of flood generation.
