Coastal flood risk

It is estimated that roughly 50% of flood risk in the UK is located in coastal and estuarial floodplains.

This proportion is projected to increase to between 60 and 70% by the end of the 21st Century due to the effects of sea level rise and reducing sediment volumes on beaches. Coastal flood risk analysis requires specialist approaches that are in many respects distinct from the fluvial counterpart. The sources of risk are waves and tides, which need to be considered in combination The behaviour of beaches, both over extended timescales and in individual storms, are an important moderator of coastal flood risk.

Coastal flood defences respond in complex ways to waves and tides. Conventional 1-D modelling approaches are seldom appropriate for modelling inundation of coastal floodplains. This course addresses all of the components of a coastal flood risk analysis, structured round a series of case studies, preparing participants for strategic studies, project appraisals and risk analysis for planning applications.

Outline

• Coastal management: History, changing priorities, modern coastal management. Shoreline management planning and strategy planning. Coastal zone management. Coastal habitats.
• Coastal flood risk analysis: Source, pathway, receptor. Dealing with time-dependency. Flood risk analysis as part of strategic options appraisal on the coast.
• Wave generation and propagation: Wave generation and propagation in deep water; small amplitude wave theory; energy, power and group celerity.
• Wave processes: Small amplitude wave theory. Wave transformation in shallow water. Wave reflection, wave breaking, runup.
• Wave statistics: Wave statistics from a wave record. Rayleigh distribution. Significant wave height. Wave energy specta. Wave period. Extreme value wave statistics.
• Wave measurement.
• Joint probability.
• Tides, surges and setup.
• Sea level rise and the impacts of climate change.
• Surge forecasting.
• Tsunamis.
• Coastal morphology: Sediment budgets. Shoreline evolution. The relationship between morphology and flood risk.
• Coastal structures Types of coastal structures. Failure modes.
• Overtopping of coastal structures.
• Beach behaviour at coastal structures.
• Coastal inundation modelling and the impacts of coastal flooding.