Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their re ....Assessing and enhancing the resilience of Australian beaches to sea level rise. Accurate forecasting of coastal recession due to sea level rise is required for planning and the design of coastal defences, but the existing method is widely disputed. With collaboration with world leading research partners, this study will perform unique laboratory experiments to determine the vulnerability of Australian beaches to sea level rise and to test environmentally sustainable measures to increase their resilience. The research will address longstanding uncertainties and significantly enhance the ability of communities to plan for a changing climate. The project will deliver new data and models of immediate benefit to professional engineers to enable robust engineering decisions which enhance the safety of coastal communities.Read moreRead less
Quantifying the impact of infiltration on dune erosion under waves & surge. Through a series of controlled laboratory experiments and numerical model development, this project aims to determine and quantify for the first time the role of water infiltration on sandy soil stability at actively eroding coastal sand dunes. This project expects to generate much-needed understanding of fundamental dune erosion processes using innovative instrumentation to obtain continuous measurements of wave-dune in ....Quantifying the impact of infiltration on dune erosion under waves & surge. Through a series of controlled laboratory experiments and numerical model development, this project aims to determine and quantify for the first time the role of water infiltration on sandy soil stability at actively eroding coastal sand dunes. This project expects to generate much-needed understanding of fundamental dune erosion processes using innovative instrumentation to obtain continuous measurements of wave-dune interactions, dune profile evolution, and water infiltration. Expected outcomes of this project include improved coastal engineering models to predict dune erosion under waves and increasing water levels. This should provide significant benefit to the future management of coastal assets using nature-based solutions.Read moreRead less
Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures ....Integrated prediction of wave-induced liquefaction for stable breakwater heads. Breakwaters are central to the economies and lifestyles of many coastal areas around the world. The liquefaction of breakwater foundations causes the failure of breakwaters, with potentially deliterious consequences for life and property. The remedies involve large investments in maintenance and cause major disruptions to coastal activities. More accurate and reliable methods for analysing the stability of structures and their foundations is urgently required, and will bring major benefits to Australian coastal facilities. We will create the science to transform our understanding of the mechanisms of wave-induced liquefaction. This will enable engineers to significantly improve the stability and robustness of marine structures.Read moreRead less
Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport ne ....Poro-elastic, single domain model of wave-induced transport and transformation of pollutants in coastal sediments. The sediments in many bays and estuaries in Australia are contaminated by pollutants due to discharge of waste from the river, groundwater or/and ocean outfall. Most previous research has had a multi-domain approach and have ignored the wave-dirven advective flow and effects of soil behaviour in coastal sediment. In this study, we will couple the procedure of pollutant transport near the sediment-water interface by a single domain approach, and link wave-dirven advective flow and contaminant in marine sediments. The research outcomes will provide a better prediction of the transformation behaviour of pollutants in contaminated sediments.Read moreRead less
Coupling models for ocean waves, groundwater and porous seabeds interaction. The ocean waves, groundwater flow and porous seabeds interaction problem is vital for erosion control, saltily and biological activities in coastal regions. Most previous research has investigated the problem from individual aspects, rather than a coupling concept. In this study, we will develop advanced theoretical models for procedures of waves propagation, water table fluctuations and soil behaviour in a porous seabe ....Coupling models for ocean waves, groundwater and porous seabeds interaction. The ocean waves, groundwater flow and porous seabeds interaction problem is vital for erosion control, saltily and biological activities in coastal regions. Most previous research has investigated the problem from individual aspects, rather than a coupling concept. In this study, we will develop advanced theoretical models for procedures of waves propagation, water table fluctuations and soil behaviour in a porous seabed, and couple them in a model. A series of experiments will be conducted for the verification of the theoretical findings. The research outcomes will provide a better understanding of the interaction between ocean wave, groundwater flow and porous seabeds.Read moreRead less
Predicting scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure. This project aims to develop improved predictions and understanding of the potential and extent of scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure on mobile seabeds. This is expected to enable scour and settlement to be accounted for directly in engineering stability and serviceability design, overturning current practice which ignores both effects on the basis of using scour protection and costly maintenance and ....Predicting scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure. This project aims to develop improved predictions and understanding of the potential and extent of scour and scour-induced settlement of subsea infrastructure on mobile seabeds. This is expected to enable scour and settlement to be accounted for directly in engineering stability and serviceability design, overturning current practice which ignores both effects on the basis of using scour protection and costly maintenance and remediation. Development of accurate predictions is expected to be achieved through physical model testing, numerical modelling and analysis of field data. Predictions should improve subsea reliability and lead to omission of scour protection in some situations, increasing international competitiveness of our offshore oil and gas industry.Read moreRead less
High-resolution multispectral underwater imaging for coral reef mapping and characterization. This project will enable improved mapping and monitoring from underwater vehicles and divers. We expect to aid the sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity in the specific case of corals reefs by increasing the quality of survey data and the extent, precision and repeatability of surveys. This project will develop technologies to assist monitoring the Great Barrier Reef and determining effects of man ....High-resolution multispectral underwater imaging for coral reef mapping and characterization. This project will enable improved mapping and monitoring from underwater vehicles and divers. We expect to aid the sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity in the specific case of corals reefs by increasing the quality of survey data and the extent, precision and repeatability of surveys. This project will develop technologies to assist monitoring the Great Barrier Reef and determining effects of management strategies. Since these developments focus on imaging and mapping the ocean floors they could also be of use in developing deep earth resources.
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The Spectral Evolution of Ocean Swell. This project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the processes responsible for the evolution of ocean swell. It will generate new knowledge in the field by using a combination of newly available satellite data and buoys strategically located along two propagation paths across the Pacific. The expected outcomes will be a unique data set and significant advances in our ability to accurately predict ocean swell. Swell prediction remains one of the ....The Spectral Evolution of Ocean Swell. This project aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the processes responsible for the evolution of ocean swell. It will generate new knowledge in the field by using a combination of newly available satellite data and buoys strategically located along two propagation paths across the Pacific. The expected outcomes will be a unique data set and significant advances in our ability to accurately predict ocean swell. Swell prediction remains one of the major short-comings of ocean wave prediction models. As swell conditions dominate ocean wave climate for 75% of the time, accurate prediction is critical for coastal protection, understanding air-sea interaction and maintaining ship and port operations.Read moreRead less
Transitions in wave breaking from deep to shallow water . The predominant impact on coastal geomorphology, marine safety and coastal structures is from breaking waves, especially from storms. This project will provide the first unified formulation of breaking wave effects from deep to shallow water, which will increase wave forecast model accuracy and hence improve coastal zone design and safety outcomes.