Sensitivity of Storm-Induced Hazards in a Highly Curvilinear Coastline to Changing Storm Directions. The Tordera Delta Case (NW Mediterranean)

Abstract

Extreme coastal storms, especially when incident in areas with densely urbanized coastlines, are one of the most damaging forms of natural disasters. The main hazards originating from coastal storms are inundation and erosion, and their magnitude and extent needs to be accurately assessed for effective management of coastal risk. The use of state-of-art morphodynamic process-based models is becoming standard, with most being applied to straight coastlines with gentle slopes. In this study, the XBeach model is used to assess the coastal response of a curvilinear sensitive deltaic coast with coarse sediment and steep slopes (intermediate-reflective conditions). The tested hypothesis is that changes in wave direction may cause large variations in the magnitude of storm-induced hazards. The model is tested against field data available for the Sant Esteve Storm (December 2008), obtaining an overall BSS (Brier Skill Score) score on the emerged morphological response of 0.68. Later, the 2008 event is used as baseline scenario to create synthetic events covering the range from NE to S. The obtained results show that storm-induced hazards along a highly curvilinear coast are very sensitive to changes in wave direction. Therefore, even under climate scenarios of relatively steady storminess, a potential shift in wave direction may significantly change hazard conditions and thus, need to be accounted for in robust damage risk assessments.

The Mediterranean Coast of Andalusia (Spain): Medium-Term Evolution and Impacts of Coastal Structures

“…In sandy sectors, the spatial distribution of accretion, erosion and stability areas is essentially influenced by the emplacement of protection structures, ports and existing natural headlands and the way such structures interact with the incoming waves, as observed at different areas by the authors of [31,34,[73][74][75].…”

“…The analysis of beach plan form and its temporal variation, which depends on wave climate [75,82] and natural and human structures characteristics [73], can be used to determine coastal sectors with drift-aligned or swash-aligned shoreline trends. Drift-aligned shoreline sectors are the result of a clear unidirectional transport while swash-aligned shoreline sectors are the result of a bidirectional longshore transport and/or a cross-shore transport [31].…”

Advances on coastal erosion assessment from satellite earth observations: exploring the use of Sentinel products along with very high resolution sensors

“…In the past decades, this coast suffered a maximum shoreline retreat of about 120 m (Figure 1b and Figure 1c), with erosion rates reaching -3.8 m/year ( [5]). Rapid retreat of about 25 m can also result from single storm events ( [6]), a value that can be enhanced due to changes in wave conditions derived from Climate Change ( [10]). These issues led to the need for numerous interventions, including soft stabilization and nourishment projects ( Figure 2).…”

The role of morphodynamics in predicting coastal flooding from storms on a dissipative microtidal beach with SLR conditions: Cartagena de Indias (Colombia)

“…In highly urbanized coastal areas, such as the coastal area of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), where different types of infrastructure (homes, hotels, and businesses) are located near the coast, such storms generally damage or destroy exposed elements. These effects are the integrated consequences of two storm-induced coastal hazards, flooding and erosion (Sanuy and Jiménez, 2019;Guimaraes et al, 2015). In this context, an adequate quantification of these hazards is an essential part of risk management (e.g., Ciavola et al, 2011;Jiménez et al, 2018;Plomaritis et al, 2018;Harley et al, 2017;Sanuy and Jiménez, 2019).…”

“…These effects are the integrated consequences of two storm-induced coastal hazards, flooding and erosion (Sanuy and Jiménez, 2019;Guimaraes et al, 2015). In this context, an adequate quantification of these hazards is an essential part of risk management (e.g., Ciavola et al, 2011;Jiménez et al, 2018;Plomaritis et al, 2018;Harley et al, 2017;Sanuy and Jiménez, 2019). The use of process-oriented numerical models to forecast storm-induced morphodynamic changes in given scenarios is a widespread and widely accepted methodological practice (e.g., Roelvink et al, 2009;McCall et al, 2010;Dissanayake et al, 2014;Annette et al, 2020).…”