OS22A-08:
The Future of Nearshore Processes Research
OS22A-08:
The Future of Nearshore Processes Research
Tuesday, 16 December 2014: 12:05 PM
Abstract:
Over 70 members of the nearshore coastal processes research community convened in April 2014 to discuss a vision for the future of nearshore science while celebrating the memories and contributions of our recently departed colleague, Abby Sallenger. The participants reviewed community accomplishments over the past four decades. Federal agencies, including FEMA, NOAA, NPS, USGS, USACE, and NRL discussed the most pressing societal needs within the coastal zone. The group engaged in a retrospective of the last four decades of progress, assessed the current status and limitations of nearshore processes research, and developed a vision for the future that focuses on societally relevant problems.The top research topics identified included:
- Long-term Coastal Impacts: Meaningfully improve our understanding and prediction of the long-term coastal effects of sea level rise and changes in storminess patterns and associated efforts to protect coastal infrastructure.
- Extreme Events: Coastal flooding, overland flow, and concurrent morphological evolution during extreme events including the subsequent process of coastal recovery.
- Human and Ecosystem Health: Linkages between physical coastal processes (transport and mixing) and land-based pollution (pathogens, nutrients, toxic contaminants).
Critical for addressing these research questions is enabling infrastructure, such as new observational tools and data sets, models, and nearshore-community communication and collaboration. Idea and concepts developed during the meeting (to be published in Shore and Beach) will be presented to foster collaboration and advocacy amongst the wider nearshore community. Meeting materials are available at: https://scripps.ucsd.edu/centers/nearshorefuture/.