Publications:Newsletters/Apr2012
Issue 29, December 2012
In this Newsletter:
Thanks to NAP, with help from NAB and NAN, for hosting our 13th Annual CIRP workshop!
The 13th Annual (38th sequential) Coastal Inlets Research Program (CIRP) workshop was held March 6-8 at the U.S. Army Engineer Philadelphia District, with attendance from Baltimore, Philadelphia, Charleston, Chicago, Galveston, and Norfolk Districts, the North Atlantic Division, and Stevens Institute of Technology. For the first time, the workshop was simultaneously presented via webinar to an additional 11 attendees from CHL, HDR, Inc., Roberge Associates, Applied Technology and Management, Galveston District, and the Narvik University College in Norway. The CIRP instructors included Tanya Beck, Mitch Brown, Ashley Frey, Honghai Li, Lihwa Lin, and Alex Sanchez and covered beginning Coastal Modeling System (CMS) and Surface-water Modeling System (SMS); the regional beach and inlet shoal evolution model GenCade, which is also in the SMS; and Advanced CMS. The CMS and GenCade are being advanced by the CIRP and Regional Sediment Management Programs to provide tools to evaluate engineering alternatives at inlets and adjacent beaches within a regional sediment management framework.
POC: Julie Rosati, julie.d.rosati@usace.army.mil
Did you miss the workshop? Announcing CIRP Webinar series.
Three webinars are planned for the summer of FY12:
- Coastal Modeling System (CMS) Basics (Jun 11-15)
- Advanced Topics with the CMS (June 18-22)
- GenCade (11-13 September)
All webinars will be from 1-3 pm CDT each day. Please register on the CIRP website (see link below) and we will send more information as these dates approach.
POC: Mitch Brown (Webinar #1), mitchell.e.brown@usace.army.mil
POC: Alex Sanchez (Webinar #2), alejandro.sanchez@usace.army.mil
POC: Ashley Frey (Webinar #3), ashley.e.frey@usace.army.mil
MixSed being implemented into CMS.
A collaborative effort by Drs. Earl Hayter (DOER) and Zeki Demirbilek (CIRP and DOER) is focused on expansion and enhancement of sediment transport modeling capabilities of the Coastal Modeling System (CMS). The planned improvements to CMS technology will allow CIRP to address sediment modeling and management (placement) needs of the USACE navigation O&M business line. Mixed (multiple-grain) sediment, cohesive sediment, and mud transport modeling capabilities that have been developed by DOER are being incorporated into the CMS. These new sediment modeling capabilities have been implemented in the explicit and implicit CMS-Flow models. Testing is in progress with laboratory and field data to verify and validate these new features of CMS. With such advanced new features of CMS, Districts will be able to evaluate and understand complex wave, non-stratified flow, and sediment processes and quantify their effects on coastal navigation, inlet, and harbor projects.
POC: Earl Hayter, earl.hayter@usace.army.mil
POC: Zeki Demirbilek, zeki.demirbilek@usace.army.mil
Pillar Point Harbor Modeling Phase II Study, CA.
The USACE District, San Francisco, and CIRP are presently conducting the coastal erosion numerical modeling Phase II study at Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay, CA. Following the completion of Phase I study in 2011 that included field data collection and numerical modeling of beach nourishment alternatives under combined hydrodynamic and wave conditions, the Phase II study is aimed to simulate the 50-year sea level rise conditions with and without Harbor scenarios using the National Research Council (NRC) Curves I and III. The model results will provide the technical information necessary for the Pillar Harbor and Half Moon Bay Stakeholders to better understand the existing coastal conditions and to look for solutions.
POC: (ERDC) Lihwa Lin, lihwa.lin@usace.army.mil
POC: (SPN) Lisa Andes, lisa.c.andes@usace.army.mil
Pros and Cons of Sediment Tracer Studies (Guest Contributor, Rod Moritz, NWP)
{Editor: Several Districts have asked about the benefits and costs for sediment tracer studies. The NWP has recently conducted several of these studies at the Mouth of the Columbia River, WA/OR. CIRP asked Rod Moritz, NWP to discuss this for us in a guest column for this quarter's eNewsletter. Rod's discussion encompasses many aspects of tracer studies and we've had to abbreviate his comments for inclusion here. However, we've provided a link to his full discussion and recent paper below. Thanks, Rod!}
A sediment tracer study is a method to evaluate the in-situ dispersal patterns affecting a specific sediment type within a targeted area of interest. For a given sediment tracer study, a mass of tracer particles is manufactured to mimic characteristics of the specific sediment targeted for evaluating at a given study area; in terms of the sediment size gradation, density, hardness, shape, and fall speed within the water column. The sediment tracer is deployed at a defined drop zone (DZ) and repeated sediment in-situ sampling is performed at the DZ and surrounding area to "track" the dispersal of the released tracer material. For a tracer study to be successful, it is necessary to be able to detect the tracer at very low levels in each collected sediment sample (1 part per billion). This detection capability enables tracking of the tracer after significant dispersion by waves and/or currents. Analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of recovered tracer indicates the spatial extent of tracer sediment transport during the data collection time-frame. The total cost for executing a tracer study adjacent to an energetic coastal inlet (high sediment dispersion) can approach $500,000. Executing a similar scope sediment tracer study within a LOW sediment dispersion study area can be less than $200,000. Although these costs represent a sizable investment, results from a successful tracer study can be very effective for describing sediment transport pathways within a complex or contentious area.
Read more here:
Primer - http://cirp.usace.army.mil/news/Moritz_tracer_primer.pdf
CS11 paper - http://cirp.usace.army.mil/Downloads/PDF/CS11_Moritz.pdf
POC: Rod Moritz, hans.r.moritz@usace.army.mil
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