Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/J005541/1

◀ Back to previous page

iCOAST: Integrated COASTal sediment systems

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:: Professor RJ Nicholls, University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering & the Environment
Co-Investigator:: Professor J Dix, University of Southampton, Sch of Ocean and Earth Science
Grant held at:: University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering & the Environment

Science Area:: Atmospheric; Marine; Terrestrial
Overall Classification:: Marine

Science Classification details

ENRIs:: Biodiversity; Environmental Risks and Hazards; Global Change
Science Topics:: Climate & Climate Change; Regional & Extreme Weather; Sediment/Sedimentary Processes; Land - Ocean Interactions

Abstract:: Prediction of changing coastal morphology over timescales of decades raises scientific challenges to which there are not yet widely applicable solutions. Yet improved predictions are essential in order to quantify the risk of coastal erosion, which is significant in its own right and also one of the main mediators of coastal flood risk. Whilst 'bottom-up' process-based models provide valuable evidence about hydrodynamic, sediment transport and morphodynamic processes in the short term, their predictive accuracy over scales of decades is for the time being fundamentally limited. Meanwhile, behavioural systems models, that focus on the main processes and feedback mechanisms that regulate coastal form have been shown to have predictive capability at the mesoscale (10-100 years and 10-100 km). However, their application has been limited to a rather narrow sub-set of coastal forms. The iCoast project is based upon a hierarchical systems concept which combines (i) the beneficial features of process-based models, (ii) a new generation of coastal behavioural systems models, and (iii) an extended approach to coastal systems mapping, which can be used to systematise and formalise different sources of knowledge about coastal behaviour. All the software developed within iCoast will be open source and OpenMI compliant. The research is focussed upon four deliverables that have been identified as major challenges in the NERC Natural Hazards Theme: Deliverable 1 will be an overall systems framework. The successful approach to coastal systems mapping developed by French et al. will be extended and applied to all of the England and Wales, making use of a new systems mapping tool. These new coastal systems maps can both supersede the coastal cells and sub-cells currently used in shoreline management planning and provide an evidence-based framework for more quantitative modelling. Therein, hydrodynamic and sediment transport coastal area models will be implemented at a broad spatial scale in order to provide evidence of wave and tidal forcings and sediment pathways. The systems framework will be implemented in open source software tools and coupled with methods for uncertainty analysis. Deliverable 2 will provide a new generation of behavioural geomorphic modules, which can be linked to enable simulation of coupled coastal-estuary-offshore landform behaviour at a meso-scale. Existing reduced complexity behavioural modules, several of which are held in-house within the iCoast consortium (SCAPE, ASMITA, various versions of 1-line beach models) will be reviewed and development and incremental improvement opportunities will be identified. They will be researched intensively by a team with unique experience of this type of model development. The scope of data-based modules that can exploit the growing datasets from coastal observatories will also be extended. The models will be integrated within a systems framework in order to study emergent properties and explore key sensitivities. Deliverable 3 will entail application and validation of two distinct coastal regions: the Suffolk Coast (Sub-Cell 3c) and Liverpool Bay (Sub-Cells 11a/11b), exploring the sensitivities of these coastal regions to changes in sediment supply resulting from sea-level rise, climate change and coastal management scenarios. This will yield the results needed for high impact publication and the demonstrations that are essential to build confidence in new approaches being transferred into practice. Deliverable 4 will facilitate knowledge transfer of the new methods through a range of dissemination mechanisms, including tutorials, manuals and knowledge transfer workshops. Our open source modelling strategy will initiate a community modelling approach in the coastal research community, at the same time as maximising access by practitioners to the knowledge generated at a time when requirements for coastal adaptation urgently require new predictive capability.

Period of Award:: 1 Feb 2012 - 31 Jul 2016
Value:: £828,445 Lead Split Award

(FY details)

Authorised funds only

NERC Reference:: NE/J005541/1
Grant Stage:: Completed
Scheme:: Directed (Research Programmes)
Grant Status:: Closed
Programme:: Coastal Sediment Systems

This grant award has a total value of £828,445

▲ top of page

FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

DI - Other Costs	Indirect - Indirect Costs	DA - Investigators	DA - Estate Costs	DI - Staff	DA - Other Directly Allocated	DI - T&S
£197,538	£204,001	£63,230	£82,667	£188,323	£5,786	£86,899

If you need further help, please read the user guide.