DATE/TIME: Friday, September 29, 2023, 2:30 pm
Reza Marsooli
Stevens Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil, Envir. & Ocean Engineering
Wind Wave Climatology Change and its Impacts to Extreme Coastal Erosion in New Jersey
Wind-generated waves in the ocean are an integral component of Earth's system. While extreme waves during storms often cause severe coastal erosion, flooding, and damage to vessels and structures, long-term mean wave conditions affect the morphology of beaches and shorelines, coastal ecosystem health, and wave energy harvesting. Therefore, understanding long-term patterns of waves, i.e., wave climatology, and their changes over time have numerous engineering and scientific implications. Using the results of a multi-decadal wave measurement analysis, this seminar presents historical variabilities and changes in the characteristics of mean and extreme waves in the western North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific Ocean basins. The seminar further discusses the characteristics of distinct clusters of waves off the coast of New Jersey and their correlation to large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. The last part of the seminar focuses on the effects of sea level rise and hurricane climatology change on extreme waves and coastal erosion hazards to the barrier islands of New Jersey.
Seminar Host:
James Shope
Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University