The purpose of the Coast3D project is to improve understanding of the physics of coastal sand transport and morphodynamics, to remedy the present lack of validation data of sand transport and morphology suitable for testing numerical models of coastal processes, to test a representative sample of numerical models for predicting coastal sand transport and morphodynamics against this data, to deliver validated modelling tools, and methodologies for their use, in a form suitable for coastal zone management, to deliver a set of guidelines for practical coastal zone management. read more

Field surveys can be performed using a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) to measure the morphology of the intertidal beach to understand the short- to long-term behaviour of bar and rip patterns. read more

Washovers are the morphologial and sedimentological product of overwash. In this project we explore the possibilities of a more natural and dynamic type of shoreline management for the West Frisian barrier islands, the Netherlands. This new approach includes the option to reactivate washovers systems in order i) to create a more dynamic, flexible and sustainable type of coastal behaviour; ii) to increase the sediment budgets of barrier islands to cope with sea level rise and iii) to re-establish more vital and rejuvenated beach-dune-salt marsh ecosystems that demonstrate a high biodiversity. read more

The wave and current flume of the laboratory for physical geography is a flume for studying waves and currents in a controlled environment. The flume is available for educational purposes and research. Academic research experiments can be performed at low costs, and secondary school experiments are free of charge. read more

Nearshore sandbars (alongshore ridges of sand in 2 - 10 m water depth typical of microtidal, storm-dominated coasts) serve as a natural protection for beaches by causing waves to break away from the shoreline. Cross-shore sandbar behavior is governed by the feedback between nonlinear hydrodynamics, sediment transport and the sandbar itself. Predictions of sandbar behavior with sophisticated numerical models are inherently uncertain because of a sensitive dependence on initial conditions and model inadequacies. This project aims to quantify these uncertainties and to determine its relevant source by means of embedding the traditional single-forecasts in a probabilistic (ensemble) environment and ensemble data-assimilation techniques. read more