Abstract
Abstract. We investigate the role of morphodynamic changes in the flooding of a micro-tidal dissipative beach for both current and sea level rise scenarios. By considering beach morphodynamics and flood processes associated with highly energetic waves, the study allows one to evaluate threats to coastal zones. Coupling of SWAN and XBeach models is employed to propagate offshore wave conditions to the swash zone, estimating morphological changes and flooding associated with wave conditions during cold fronts and hurricanes that affected Cartagena de Indias (Colombia). The numerical models were calibrated from previous research in the study area. The results indicate that numerical modeling of flooding on microtidal dissipative beaches under extreme wave conditions should be approached by considering beach morphodynamics, because ignoring them can underestimate flooding by ∼ 15 %. Moreover, model results suggest that beach erosion and flooding are intensified by sea level rise, resulting in the most unfavorable condition when extreme events are contemporaneous with high tides. In this case, the increase in erosion and flooding is ∼ 69 % and ∼ 65 %, respectively, when compared with the present conditions of sea level.
Highlights
The impact of extreme storms on a coast has adverse consequences for coastal communities associated with loss of life and infrastructure damage, as well as significant indirect economic losses (Kron, 2013; Bertin et al, 2014; Sills et al, 2008)
We investigated the role of morphological changes on coastal flooding caused by storms and sea level rise (SLR) on a microtidal dissipative beach
The numerical results showed that flooding on microtidal dissipative beaches under storm scenarios should considered morphodynamical modeling
Summary
The impact of extreme storms on a coast has adverse consequences for coastal communities associated with loss of life and infrastructure damage, as well as significant indirect economic losses (Kron, 2013; Bertin et al, 2014; Sills et al, 2008). In highly urbanized coastal areas, such as Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), where residence and industries are located near the coast, such storms generally damage or destroy the infrastructure. These effects are the integrated consequences of two storm-induced coastal hazards, flooding and erosion (Sallenger et al, 2000; Sanuy and Jiménez, 2019; Guimarães et al, 2015). Predicting flooding associated with storm impacts accompanied by intense erosion can pose a problem on multiple scales, governed by complex interactions between a great variety of hydrodynamic processes and of sediment transport
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