Numerical modelling of aeolian coastal landform development

Abstract

Coastal dunes serve as a first line of protection against flooding by the sea. In the recent past, the interest in secondary services provided by coastal dunes has increased. These services include ecological values and recreation. In order to manage and maintain the coast as an attractive area that combines coastal protection and ecological values, the natural dynamics have to be understood. In view of this, numerical models with quantitative predictive capabilities on the development of coastal dunes can give a lot of insight. A model is developed with the aim to improve the current aeolian modeling by implementing biological and physical processes adapted from different existing models, developing a modular aeolian transport model with quantitative predictive capabilities for dune development. The current version of the model is capable of simulating barchan dunes and the initial stage of coastal dune formation: Embryo dunes. Potentially the model can be used to determine the influence of tidal ranges, storm frequencies, armoring, salinity and precipitation on dune building processes. This will result in a greater insight in the general behavior of coastal systems, including the evolution of embryonal dune fields as well as foredune characteristics like maximum height and autocyclic formation of transverse dunes. On the other hand the model can also be used during more practical situations such as computing recovery times of coastal dunes after extreme events or for the creation of artificial blowouts.