A Framework for Modelling Shoreline Response to Clustered Storm Events: Case Studies from Southeast Australia

Brief description

While the process of beach erosion is well understood in general terms, the response of a specific sector of coast to clustered storms may not be. For effective coastal management, this site specific knowledge becomes essential. Here we present a framework for integrating coastal geomorphology and coastal engineering approaches to model shoreline response to clustered storms at a spatial scale that can directly inform management agencies. We focus on two case study areas in southeast Australia, the beaches of the Adelaide metropolitan coast (South Australia) and Old Bar beach (central New South Wales) where erosion is a management priority.

For each site we adopt the coastal sediment compartment as the functional management unit, mapped for the Australian continent at multiple spatial scales, and use sub-surface information (boreholes, ground penetrating radar profiles) to estimate sediment volumes in the upper beach to foredune. These data are then used to inform shoreline response modelling linked to an event time series (observed and hind cast) as a separate project component. Future work includes assessment of `at-risk infrastructure at each site. This paper is a contribution to the Bushfire and Natural Hazard Cooperative Research Centre project Storm surge: Resilience to clustered disaster events on the coast.

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