Meet us at the Australasian Coasts & Ports 2023 Conference

This week, the MetService Research & Innovation Science Team will present at the Australasian Coast & Ports 2023 Conference in Queensland, Australia. The event is organized by Engineers Australia's National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering, PIANC Australia and New Zealand, Engineering New Zealand, and the New Zealand Coastal Society. The event runs from the 15th –18th August. This year's edition marks the 50th anniversary since the first conference was held in 1973 and will reflect on the history of coastal, ocean, and port engineering in Australasia while also looking ahead to the next 50 years. 

On August 16th, Dr Henrique Rapizo, a Senior Physical Oceanographer at MetService, will be giving a presentation entitled "Fetch-limited Wind-Waves in Auckland Harbour". The study delves into the impact of locally generated fetch-limited wind-waves in Waitematā Harbour. The wave generation process was fully represented in the hindcast, which utilized three regular computational nests: a parent grid at 800-m resolution for part of the Hauraki Gulf, a 150-m grid extending east to the Ponui Island, and an inner harbour nest with 50-m resolution. 

“Closed or semi-enclosed basins can be affected by waves generated locally, even if they are protected from incoming swell waves,” says Henrique. “These waves have the potential to cause damage and pose a threat to coastal infrastructure and morphology.” 

In the Coastal Modelling session, on the 18th of August, Dr Mariana Cussioli, MetService Physical Oceanographer, will present “One beach… many models! Combining models to predict multidecadal coastal erosion”. Her talk discusses the multi-model approach developed to better understand current and future coastal processes at a Port Fairy beach (Australia), where coastal assets have been impacted by storm erosion and Sea Level Rise (SLR). 

“Coastlines around the world are being impacted by storm erosion and Sea Level Rise, leading to an increase in damage exposure for coastal assets and structures," says Mariana. “Our methodology leveraged the output of a long-term shoreline model, as initial conditions for a storm erosion model, on a feedback loop. It offered a useful method for evaluating coastal erosion issues considering trends in shoreline retreat, SLR in future scenarios, storm conditions, and both longshore and cross-shore sediment transport.” 

The Research and Innovation team at MetService is delighted to participate in a significant event that unites experts and industry leaders to address the technological, scientific, policy, planning, and design challenges associated with coastal development. Read more about the conference here.