Predictive modelling and coastal storm responsea study of urban and natural coastal systems
type: CreativeWork
description: The increase in frequency and intensity of storm events combined with the growth of population in the coastal zones are exacerbating risk in coastal areas . Proper mitigation plans are necessary to reduce the impact of extreme events on those areas. In many cases, the development of those plans is based on early warning systems, a combination of pre-established extreme values and numerical models to forecast the storm's possible impact. However, the local characteristics must be considered when establishing the extreme values and setting the numerical models to achieve reliable predictions. This PhD thesis presents the study of the application of numerical modelling to predict coastal storm behaviour in two sites with opposite characteristics: Urban and Natural systems. The chosen highly urbanised beach was the beach of Volano in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, while the considered natural coastal system was the Arborea Beach in Sardinia (Italy); the last one is characterised by the presence of seagrass Posidonia oceanica deposition on the foreshore, known as "banquette". The thesis comprehensively evaluates these models' role in predicting and mitigating coastal hazards by investigating the two different environments. The first topic addressed in this thesis is the flooding risk in urban areas, with the specific case study in the Emilia-Romagna region. The coastal area of this Italian region, located on the northern Adriatic coast, is heavily urbanised due to the presence of resorts, roads and coastal defences. The high infrastructure in a low-lying dune area makes the region susceptible to extreme events, being impacted at least once yearly. When defining the warning levels in a forecasted event, a common practice is establishing different thresholds according to the event's intensity. One standard value is the Total Water Level (TWL). However, the definition of TWL and how the extreme values are calculated change from country to country or even region to regi…
abstract: The increase in frequency and intensity of storm events combined with the growth of population in the coastal zones are exacerbating risk in coastal areas . Proper mitigation plans are necessary to reduce the impact of extreme events on those areas. In many cases, the development of those plans is based on early warning systems, a combination of pre-established extreme values and numerical models to forecast the storm's possible impact. However, the local characteristics must be considered when establishing the extreme values and setting the numerical models to achieve reliable predictions. This PhD thesis presents the study of the application of numerical modelling to predict coastal storm behaviour in two sites with opposite characteristics: Urban and Natural systems. The chosen highly urbanised beach was the beach of Volano in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, while the considered natural coastal system was the Arborea Beach in Sardinia (Italy); the last one is characterised by the presence of seagrass Posidonia oceanica deposition on the foreshore, known as "banquette". The thesis comprehensively evaluates these models' role in predicting and mitigating coastal hazards by investigating the two different environments. The first topic addressed in this thesis is the flooding risk in urban areas, with the specific case study in the Emilia-Romagna region. The coastal area of this Italian region, located on the northern Adriatic coast, is heavily urbanised due to the presence of resorts, roads and coastal defences. The high infrastructure in a low-lying dune area makes the region susceptible to extreme events, being impacted at least once yearly. When defining the warning levels in a forecasted event, a common practice is establishing different thresholds according to the event's intensity. One standard value is the Total Water Level (TWL). However, the definition of TWL and how the extreme values are calculated change from country to country or even region to regi…
author: Faustino Cabrita, Paulo Sérgio
author: Ciavola, Paolo
author: Montes Pérez, Juan Bautista
language: eng
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
date published: 2025-04-11
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:29:38Z
provider: Universidad de Cadiz
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Universidad de Cadiz

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10498/37119