Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coup... more Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coupling of a nonlinear wave transformation model and a structural dynamic model. Nonlinear wave transformation is simulated by a two-dimensional VOF-type model (Cornell Breaking Wave and Structures), which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence closure and a free-surface tracking scheme. The numerical model is used to calculate wave-induced forces and overtopping volume on low mound breakwaters. This information is further employed as the boundary conditions in a structure dynamic model to quantify the structural failure. Simulations over a wide range of wave conditions allow us to investigate the role of both epistemic-type and aleatoric uncertainty on wave-induced sliding and overtopping. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct several realizations for an assessment of the aleatoric uncertainty in the failure prediction. The latter approach allows us to obtain ensemble values and the corresponding (natural) variability of overtopping, lateral forces, and sliding for a given forcing. Moreover, numerical results show that the structure displacement is sensitive to frequency spread values (epistemic uncertainty), whereas wave overtopping is less sensitive to such parameter. This approach can be employed to develop parameterizations that include the aleatoric uncertainty in their prediction.
Sand spits are common in wave-dominated environments; with enough sand supply, they can evolve to... more Sand spits are common in wave-dominated environments; with enough sand supply, they can evolve to affect circulation and navigation in channels or inlets. The focus of this paper is on the navigation channel of the Sisal Port, located on the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula (YP) coast, where a sand spit grew and was monitored from its formation (June 2018) until navigation was practically blocked (November 2018). The YP coast is characterized as being microtidal, with significant wave heights ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 m (April to September), and in the presence of high energy events (cold fronts and storms), waves can reach heights of up to 2.5 m offshore at 10 m depth (October to February). Prior to the beginning of UAV surveys, we used photos (June–July 2018) from a stationary field camera and hydrodynamic data from models (WaveWatch III for waves and MARV software for tidal levels) to generate a qualitative description of the sand spit in the channel. Combining products from UAVs fli...
Knowledge of the magnitude and behaviour of sea waves at the project site is an essential for des... more Knowledge of the magnitude and behaviour of sea waves at the project site is an essential for design of coastal protection structures, however, naturally the waves are complicated by be irregular and random. Hence, in order to assess the uncertainty in the displacements failures predictions, Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct fortyfive realizations, corresponding to the same energy density spectra (JONSWAP) but employing different random phases. Finally, new parameterization for sliding, that include the uncertainty bounds in their prediction, are presented.
Despite the low occurrence of tropical cyclones at the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, an... more Despite the low occurrence of tropical cyclones at the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina (Colombia), Hurricane Iota in 2020 made evident the area vulnerability to tropical cyclones as major hazards by obliterating 56.4 % of housing, partially destroying the remaining houses in Providencia. We investigated the hurricane storm surge inundation in the archipelago by forcing hydrodynamic models with synthetic tropical cyclones and hypothetical hurricanes. The storm surge from synthetic events allowed identifying the strongest surges using the probability distribution, enabling the generation of hurricane storm surge flood maps for 100 and 500 year return periods. This analysis suggested that the east of San Andres and Providencia are the more likely areas to be flooded from hurricanes storm surges. The hypothetical events were used to force the hydrodynamic model to create worst-case flood scenario maps, useful for contingency and development planning. Additiona...
Debido a la posición geográfica del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina (SPS... more Debido a la posición geográfica del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina (SPSC), esta es la parte del territorio colombiano más expuesto a ser inundado por marea de tormenta generada por ciclones tropicales (CT). Entre los peligros asociados a los CT, las inundaciones suelen ocasionar los mayores daños. En este estudio se evalúa un escenario extremo de inundación por marea de tormenta asociada a CT para establecer las áreas susceptibles a la inundación en este archipiélago. Dada la escasez de CT históricos en este archipiélago, se generó una base de datos de CT hipotéticos, los cuales son un conjunto de eventos con una velocidad de viento constante (95.17 m/s), una velocidad de traslación constante de 5.87 m/s y un radio máximo de viento constante de 56.3 km, para trayectorias con cinco direcciones de aproximación al área de interés. Se evaluaron siete trayectorias paralelas para cada dirección, separadas por 6 km. La misma metodología fue utilizada para la isla ...
Friction velocity (u*) is an important velocity scale used in the study of engineering and geophy... more Friction velocity (u*) is an important velocity scale used in the study of engineering and geophysical flows. The widespread use of 2D sonic anemometers in modern meteorological stations makes the estimation of u* from just the horizontal components of the velocity a very attractive possibility. The presence of different wind regimes (such as sea breezes in or near coastal zones) cause the turbulent parameters to be dependent on the wind direction. Additionally, u* depends on atmospheric stability. This makes the estimation of u* from 2D measurements very difficult. A simple expression is proposed, and then tested with data from six independent experiments located in coastal zones. The results show that it is possible to estimate friction velocity from 2D measurements using the turbulence Intensity as a proxy for u*, reducing substantially the sensitivity to the wind direction or atmospheric stability, with small root mean squared errors (0.06
This study applies three different methods to assess the flood risk and damage from the strongest... more This study applies three different methods to assess the flood risk and damage from the strongest high-pressure cold front (locally known as ‘Norte’) event in terms of the residual tide from 30 years (1979–2008) of data for Progreso, Yucatan. The most important difference between the three methods is the estimation of flood vulnerability for Progreso. The first method, proposed by Mexico’s National Center for the Prevention of Disasters (CENAPRED) and used by the Mexican government is based mostly on economic asset (household goods) values and flood impacts. The second (CENAPREDv2) and third (FRI) methods are proposals for assessing risk that include 17 socioeconomic indicators. The former includes economic asset values, as is the case for CENAPRED, while the latter does not. The main results of this study show that the modeled ‘Norte’ event flooded 25% of Progreso’s city blocks, with an estimated economic flood risk of $USD 16,266 (CENAPRED) and $USD 223,779 (CENAPREDv2), and flood...
Sandy beaches provide habitat and natural protection to coastal areas against extreme events. Bea... more Sandy beaches provide habitat and natural protection to coastal areas against extreme events. Beach erosion is ubiquitous of coastlines around the world and is very important given the implications in the loss of land and infrastructure in coastal areas. This problem is particularly relevant in low-lying coasts, with shallow and extended continental shelves, considering the increasing trends on the frequency, intensity of storms (waves, currents and surges), and the sea level rise due to climate change. Mitigation measures encompass different approaches including soft and hard engineering solutions. The Yucatan coast (Mexico) has experienced beach erosion over the past decades. More recently, detached breakwaters have been constructed to mitigate beach erosion. Thus, we investigate both permeable and impermeable structures performance in this area.
Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coup... more Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coupling of a nonlinear wave transformation model and a structural dynamic model. Nonlinear wave transformation is simulated by a two-dimensional VOF-type model (Cornell Breaking Wave and Structures), which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence closure and a free-surface tracking scheme. The numerical model is used to calculate wave-induced forces and overtopping volume on low mound breakwaters. This information is further employed as the boundary conditions in a structure dynamic model to quantify the structural failure. Simulations over a wide range of wave conditions allow us to investigate the role of both epistemic-type and aleatoric uncertainty on wave-induced sliding and overtopping. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct several realizations for an assessment of the aleatoric uncertainty in the failure prediction. The latter approach allows us to obtain ensemble values and the corresponding (natural) variability of overtopping, lateral forces, and sliding for a given forcing. Moreover, numerical results show that the structure displacement is sensitive to frequency spread values (epistemic uncertainty), whereas wave overtopping is less sensitive to such parameter. This approach can be employed to develop parameterizations that include the aleatoric uncertainty in their prediction.
Run-up parameterization is an important tool for conducting vulnerability studies on flooding and... more Run-up parameterization is an important tool for conducting vulnerability studies on flooding and erosion in coastal areas. This study makes use of a coupling between the SWAN and SWASH models, to investigate the influence of beach morphology and tidal water level on run-up statistics. Furthermore the applicability of current run-up parameterizations on model predictions for various beach profiles in Yucatan (Mexico) is evaluated. Results revealed that tidal water level has more influence than foreshore slope on run-up statistics. The model simulations at four different Yucatan locations showed saturation of the high frequency (f > 0.05 Hz) swash height and setup with increasing deep water wave height, whereas the infragravity swash height (f < 0.05 Hz) did not saturate for the considered conditions. The simulated 2% exceedence value was often within 25% of run-up parameterizations.
Low-crested detached breakwaters (LCDBs) have been widely employed as a mitigation measure agains... more Low-crested detached breakwaters (LCDBs) have been widely employed as a mitigation measure against beach erosion. However, only a few studies have assessed their performance in sea-breeze-dominated environments. This work investigates the beach morphodynamics behind LCDBs deployed on a micro-tidal sea-breeze-dominated beach. The study area, located in the northern Yucatán peninsula, is characterized by low-energy, high-angle waves, which drive a persistent (westward) alongshore sediment transport (O(104) m3/year). High-resolution real-time kinematics global positioning system (GPS) beach surveys were conducted over a one-year period (2017–2018) to investigate the performance of LCDBs at three sites. Moreover, unmanned aerial vehicle flights were employed to evaluate far-field shoreline stability. Field observations revealed a distinct behavior in the three study sites, dependent on the breakwaters’ transmission characteristics, geometry, stability, and shoreline orientation. Imperme...
Multiple tidal inlet stability has been modeled following either a single-inlet stability approac... more Multiple tidal inlet stability has been modeled following either a single-inlet stability approach or a simple linear analytical approach, and the results suggest that these systems are not stable. However, there is evidence that shallow multiple tidal inlet systems are strongly nonlinear and that they can be stable on a historical time scale.Based on numerical simulations of the hydrodynamics of Ría Formosa, a shallow lagoon in the south of Portugal, in which multiple tidal inlets have persisted in a historical time scale, the effects of tidal distortion and residual circulation on the persistence of multiple inlets in the system were analyzed. Numerical simulations using a 2-D vertically averaged finite element model served (1) to identify the existence of three hydrodynamically independent sub-embayments in the system, (2) to create realistic physical disturbances (change in inlet cross-sectional area) and analyze the hydrodynamic response of the system to such disturbances, (3) to identify and quantify the existing nonlinear hydrodynamic processes (tidal distortion, ebb/flood dominance, residual flow patterns), and (4) to analyze the overall stability of the western sub-embayment using the closure curve approach.The results show the importance of the nonlinear processes in the hydrodynamics of multiple inlet systems, and the need to consider them when analyzing inlet stability in such systems, and suggest that, specifically for Ría Formosa, if the existing jetties at one of the inlets in the western sub-embayment were removed, this area of the system would reach natural stability and equilibrium with three inlets.
Beach Nourishment Evolution in the Cancún Beach, Quintana Roo, México. [ASCE Conference Proceedin... more Beach Nourishment Evolution in the Cancún Beach, Quintana Roo, México. [ASCE Conference Proceedings 239, 179 (2007)]. Diana K. Morán, Paulo Salles. A. de A., José C. Sánchez, Juan C. Espinal. Abstract. This paper presents ...
Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coup... more Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coupling of a nonlinear wave transformation model and a structural dynamic model. Nonlinear wave transformation is simulated by a two-dimensional VOF-type model (Cornell Breaking Wave and Structures), which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence closure and a free-surface tracking scheme. The numerical model is used to calculate wave-induced forces and overtopping volume on low mound breakwaters. This information is further employed as the boundary conditions in a structure dynamic model to quantify the structural failure. Simulations over a wide range of wave conditions allow us to investigate the role of both epistemic-type and aleatoric uncertainty on wave-induced sliding and overtopping. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct several realizations for an assessment of the aleatoric uncertainty in the failure prediction. The latter approach allows us to obtain ensemble values and the corresponding (natural) variability of overtopping, lateral forces, and sliding for a given forcing. Moreover, numerical results show that the structure displacement is sensitive to frequency spread values (epistemic uncertainty), whereas wave overtopping is less sensitive to such parameter. This approach can be employed to develop parameterizations that include the aleatoric uncertainty in their prediction.
Sand spits are common in wave-dominated environments; with enough sand supply, they can evolve to... more Sand spits are common in wave-dominated environments; with enough sand supply, they can evolve to affect circulation and navigation in channels or inlets. The focus of this paper is on the navigation channel of the Sisal Port, located on the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula (YP) coast, where a sand spit grew and was monitored from its formation (June 2018) until navigation was practically blocked (November 2018). The YP coast is characterized as being microtidal, with significant wave heights ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 m (April to September), and in the presence of high energy events (cold fronts and storms), waves can reach heights of up to 2.5 m offshore at 10 m depth (October to February). Prior to the beginning of UAV surveys, we used photos (June–July 2018) from a stationary field camera and hydrodynamic data from models (WaveWatch III for waves and MARV software for tidal levels) to generate a qualitative description of the sand spit in the channel. Combining products from UAVs fli...
Knowledge of the magnitude and behaviour of sea waves at the project site is an essential for des... more Knowledge of the magnitude and behaviour of sea waves at the project site is an essential for design of coastal protection structures, however, naturally the waves are complicated by be irregular and random. Hence, in order to assess the uncertainty in the displacements failures predictions, Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct fortyfive realizations, corresponding to the same energy density spectra (JONSWAP) but employing different random phases. Finally, new parameterization for sliding, that include the uncertainty bounds in their prediction, are presented.
Despite the low occurrence of tropical cyclones at the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, an... more Despite the low occurrence of tropical cyclones at the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina (Colombia), Hurricane Iota in 2020 made evident the area vulnerability to tropical cyclones as major hazards by obliterating 56.4 % of housing, partially destroying the remaining houses in Providencia. We investigated the hurricane storm surge inundation in the archipelago by forcing hydrodynamic models with synthetic tropical cyclones and hypothetical hurricanes. The storm surge from synthetic events allowed identifying the strongest surges using the probability distribution, enabling the generation of hurricane storm surge flood maps for 100 and 500 year return periods. This analysis suggested that the east of San Andres and Providencia are the more likely areas to be flooded from hurricanes storm surges. The hypothetical events were used to force the hydrodynamic model to create worst-case flood scenario maps, useful for contingency and development planning. Additiona...
Debido a la posición geográfica del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina (SPS... more Debido a la posición geográfica del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina (SPSC), esta es la parte del territorio colombiano más expuesto a ser inundado por marea de tormenta generada por ciclones tropicales (CT). Entre los peligros asociados a los CT, las inundaciones suelen ocasionar los mayores daños. En este estudio se evalúa un escenario extremo de inundación por marea de tormenta asociada a CT para establecer las áreas susceptibles a la inundación en este archipiélago. Dada la escasez de CT históricos en este archipiélago, se generó una base de datos de CT hipotéticos, los cuales son un conjunto de eventos con una velocidad de viento constante (95.17 m/s), una velocidad de traslación constante de 5.87 m/s y un radio máximo de viento constante de 56.3 km, para trayectorias con cinco direcciones de aproximación al área de interés. Se evaluaron siete trayectorias paralelas para cada dirección, separadas por 6 km. La misma metodología fue utilizada para la isla ...
Friction velocity (u*) is an important velocity scale used in the study of engineering and geophy... more Friction velocity (u*) is an important velocity scale used in the study of engineering and geophysical flows. The widespread use of 2D sonic anemometers in modern meteorological stations makes the estimation of u* from just the horizontal components of the velocity a very attractive possibility. The presence of different wind regimes (such as sea breezes in or near coastal zones) cause the turbulent parameters to be dependent on the wind direction. Additionally, u* depends on atmospheric stability. This makes the estimation of u* from 2D measurements very difficult. A simple expression is proposed, and then tested with data from six independent experiments located in coastal zones. The results show that it is possible to estimate friction velocity from 2D measurements using the turbulence Intensity as a proxy for u*, reducing substantially the sensitivity to the wind direction or atmospheric stability, with small root mean squared errors (0.06
This study applies three different methods to assess the flood risk and damage from the strongest... more This study applies three different methods to assess the flood risk and damage from the strongest high-pressure cold front (locally known as ‘Norte’) event in terms of the residual tide from 30 years (1979–2008) of data for Progreso, Yucatan. The most important difference between the three methods is the estimation of flood vulnerability for Progreso. The first method, proposed by Mexico’s National Center for the Prevention of Disasters (CENAPRED) and used by the Mexican government is based mostly on economic asset (household goods) values and flood impacts. The second (CENAPREDv2) and third (FRI) methods are proposals for assessing risk that include 17 socioeconomic indicators. The former includes economic asset values, as is the case for CENAPRED, while the latter does not. The main results of this study show that the modeled ‘Norte’ event flooded 25% of Progreso’s city blocks, with an estimated economic flood risk of $USD 16,266 (CENAPRED) and $USD 223,779 (CENAPREDv2), and flood...
Sandy beaches provide habitat and natural protection to coastal areas against extreme events. Bea... more Sandy beaches provide habitat and natural protection to coastal areas against extreme events. Beach erosion is ubiquitous of coastlines around the world and is very important given the implications in the loss of land and infrastructure in coastal areas. This problem is particularly relevant in low-lying coasts, with shallow and extended continental shelves, considering the increasing trends on the frequency, intensity of storms (waves, currents and surges), and the sea level rise due to climate change. Mitigation measures encompass different approaches including soft and hard engineering solutions. The Yucatan coast (Mexico) has experienced beach erosion over the past decades. More recently, detached breakwaters have been constructed to mitigate beach erosion. Thus, we investigate both permeable and impermeable structures performance in this area.
Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coup... more Abstract We present a methodology to quantify the breakwater failure by means of the partial coupling of a nonlinear wave transformation model and a structural dynamic model. Nonlinear wave transformation is simulated by a two-dimensional VOF-type model (Cornell Breaking Wave and Structures), which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence closure and a free-surface tracking scheme. The numerical model is used to calculate wave-induced forces and overtopping volume on low mound breakwaters. This information is further employed as the boundary conditions in a structure dynamic model to quantify the structural failure. Simulations over a wide range of wave conditions allow us to investigate the role of both epistemic-type and aleatoric uncertainty on wave-induced sliding and overtopping. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to conduct several realizations for an assessment of the aleatoric uncertainty in the failure prediction. The latter approach allows us to obtain ensemble values and the corresponding (natural) variability of overtopping, lateral forces, and sliding for a given forcing. Moreover, numerical results show that the structure displacement is sensitive to frequency spread values (epistemic uncertainty), whereas wave overtopping is less sensitive to such parameter. This approach can be employed to develop parameterizations that include the aleatoric uncertainty in their prediction.
Run-up parameterization is an important tool for conducting vulnerability studies on flooding and... more Run-up parameterization is an important tool for conducting vulnerability studies on flooding and erosion in coastal areas. This study makes use of a coupling between the SWAN and SWASH models, to investigate the influence of beach morphology and tidal water level on run-up statistics. Furthermore the applicability of current run-up parameterizations on model predictions for various beach profiles in Yucatan (Mexico) is evaluated. Results revealed that tidal water level has more influence than foreshore slope on run-up statistics. The model simulations at four different Yucatan locations showed saturation of the high frequency (f > 0.05 Hz) swash height and setup with increasing deep water wave height, whereas the infragravity swash height (f < 0.05 Hz) did not saturate for the considered conditions. The simulated 2% exceedence value was often within 25% of run-up parameterizations.
Low-crested detached breakwaters (LCDBs) have been widely employed as a mitigation measure agains... more Low-crested detached breakwaters (LCDBs) have been widely employed as a mitigation measure against beach erosion. However, only a few studies have assessed their performance in sea-breeze-dominated environments. This work investigates the beach morphodynamics behind LCDBs deployed on a micro-tidal sea-breeze-dominated beach. The study area, located in the northern Yucatán peninsula, is characterized by low-energy, high-angle waves, which drive a persistent (westward) alongshore sediment transport (O(104) m3/year). High-resolution real-time kinematics global positioning system (GPS) beach surveys were conducted over a one-year period (2017–2018) to investigate the performance of LCDBs at three sites. Moreover, unmanned aerial vehicle flights were employed to evaluate far-field shoreline stability. Field observations revealed a distinct behavior in the three study sites, dependent on the breakwaters’ transmission characteristics, geometry, stability, and shoreline orientation. Imperme...
Multiple tidal inlet stability has been modeled following either a single-inlet stability approac... more Multiple tidal inlet stability has been modeled following either a single-inlet stability approach or a simple linear analytical approach, and the results suggest that these systems are not stable. However, there is evidence that shallow multiple tidal inlet systems are strongly nonlinear and that they can be stable on a historical time scale.Based on numerical simulations of the hydrodynamics of Ría Formosa, a shallow lagoon in the south of Portugal, in which multiple tidal inlets have persisted in a historical time scale, the effects of tidal distortion and residual circulation on the persistence of multiple inlets in the system were analyzed. Numerical simulations using a 2-D vertically averaged finite element model served (1) to identify the existence of three hydrodynamically independent sub-embayments in the system, (2) to create realistic physical disturbances (change in inlet cross-sectional area) and analyze the hydrodynamic response of the system to such disturbances, (3) to identify and quantify the existing nonlinear hydrodynamic processes (tidal distortion, ebb/flood dominance, residual flow patterns), and (4) to analyze the overall stability of the western sub-embayment using the closure curve approach.The results show the importance of the nonlinear processes in the hydrodynamics of multiple inlet systems, and the need to consider them when analyzing inlet stability in such systems, and suggest that, specifically for Ría Formosa, if the existing jetties at one of the inlets in the western sub-embayment were removed, this area of the system would reach natural stability and equilibrium with three inlets.
Beach Nourishment Evolution in the Cancún Beach, Quintana Roo, México. [ASCE Conference Proceedin... more Beach Nourishment Evolution in the Cancún Beach, Quintana Roo, México. [ASCE Conference Proceedings 239, 179 (2007)]. Diana K. Morán, Paulo Salles. A. de A., José C. Sánchez, Juan C. Espinal. Abstract. This paper presents ...
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