SEMCA: Sedimentation, Erosion and Morphodynamics in Coastal Areas

The major objectives of SEMCA project:

• estimation of future evolution in coastal morphology based on numerical models.
  
• construction of a numerical modelling system for short-term prediction of sediment transport and for the medium-term morphological changes in the German Bight area of the North Sea. Such system comprises modules for generating wind fields, waves, currents, and sediment transport. It should also contains repeated high resolution surveys over several years of bathymetry in a morphodynamically active area.
  
• validation of simulation system with historical data and data from from high-resolution surveys taken of the same area over several years.
  

Hypotheses:

The representation of the realistic energy, matter and momentum flow from regional scales down to the sediment is necessary in order to obtain predictive power of the modelling system.

Stochastic forcing of the system through realistic time series of weather events and the explicit modelling of internal stochastic behaviour of processes are indispensable to describe morphodynamics. Solution ensembles generated by repeated integration of the essentially stochastic model equations are needed to estimate future changes in morphology.

Types of data generated:

• temporal high resolution bathymetry data of specific sited in the North Friesian islands area.
  
• Time series of high resolution wind, wave, current and sediment distributions will carry out in the German Bight.