Operational modeling of waves and currents at beach and harbor scales

The CariCOOS TEAM

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Overview

• Rincon buoy update• Review of our main goals as promised at the

2012 General Assembly in Parguera• Model description:– Operational mode: SWAN– In development: ROMS

• Plans for the future

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Rincon buoy update• On Friday March 8 at 3 PM the Rincon buoy

mooring broke, apparently from a boat strike

• CDIP personnel called with the news at 4:15 PM

• By 5 PM we had a jetski on the water• By 7 PM buoy was on shore• Rubber bungee cord shows sign of being

snapped under stress, not cut• Ironically, this happened on the eve of the

largest swell of the year

Advancing CariCOOS: Providing data from large scales to small scales to aid your day to day operations

• In FY 2011-2016, focused on developing core assets, tools and products required by shore dependent sectors, particularly:– Very high resolution wave models & observations– Very high-resolution coastal circulation modeling– Very high-resolution coastal wind modeling &

observations – Rapid bathymetric surveying and seabed

mapping capabilities – Water quality products

• Examples of Specific Applications– SAR Operations & Safe navigation– Beach safety– Oil spill and pollutant modeling– Recreational sector

Support for SAR

Ops

High-res

currents

High-res

winds

High-res

waves

Rapid surveyin

g

Commercial fishing

High-res currents

High-res

winds

High-res waves

Examples of the dependence of specific sectors on CariCOOS core assets

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The CariCOOS Swan Multigrid Nearshore Wave Model http://www.caricoos.org/drupal/swan_multigrid

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SWAN Point forecasts

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SWAN Point forecast for SJ Bay

RIGHT NOW

RIGHT NOW

San Juan Buoy reading @ 9 AM: Hs = 8.9 ft

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Are our predictions any good? SWAN Model Validation: Rincon & SJ

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Are our predictions any good? SWAN Model Validation: PONCE & USVI

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Example applications of operational nearshore wave modeling

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Application #1: Waves & erosion from Hurricane Sandy

• Extreme WNW swell angle• Significant coastal flooding &

erosion• CariCOOS performed before

and after bathymetric surveys

Morphological Response: Hurricane Sandy

• After Sandy, offshore sand migration was observed in both beach profiles.

• For further details please see Patricia Chardon’s poster

Hydrodynamic Conditions

Hurricane Sandy Peak Conditions

Survey BeforeHurricane

Survey After

Hurricane

CariCOOS Swan Wave Model plots from Sandy’s event: (1) October 26, 2012, (2) October

29,2012

(1)

(2)

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Example of possible threshold for Jobos

Above: Nearshore prediction for Jobos Beach from the CNWM. Left: Early version of the warning system.

Application #2: Development of the PR Beach and Surfzone Currents Warning System

*Please see our poster for further details

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High-resolution coastal circulation modeling

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Under development: operational coastal circulation modeling at beach and harbor scales• Effort led by Dr. Stefano Leonardi • Sea state variables used to generate initial and boundary conditions are taken from

the AmSeas NCOM model. • The AmSeas model has a 3km resolution with 40 vertical levels. The model

assimilates SST, altimetry (SSH) as well as profile temperature and salinity into a 1/8 degree global NCOM model.

• K-profile turbulent profile for vertical parameterization. • Open lateral boundary conditions.

– Flather condition: Barotropic variables (2D). – Orlansky condition: Baroclinic variables (3D).

• Forcing:– Tides– Winds– Rivers– 3D baroclinic structure from AMSEAS

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Under development: Operational coastal circulation modeling in San Juan Bay

• Please see Edgardo Garcia & Stefano Leonardi’s poster for more details

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Under development: Operational Coastal circulation modeling in San Juan Bay

• Please see Edgardo Garcia & Stefano Leonardi’s poster for more details

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Under development: operational coastal circulation modeling in USVI: Port of Charlotte Amalie

• Please see Miguel Solano & Stefano Leonardi’s poster for more details

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• Please see Miguel Solano & Stefano Leonardi’s poster for more details

Under development: operational coastal circulation modeling in USVI: Port of Charlotte Amalie

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Conclusions & Future Plans• We have successfully developed an operational wave model

(99.1% up-time) which resolves wave transformation at beach and harbor scales

• Validation of SWAN shows significant improvement over previous versions of SWAN as well as NWW3 forecasts (for further details please visit our poster)

• Future plans– A very high-resolution coastal circulation model will be validated and fully

operational by the 2014 General Assembly – Nearshore product integration into GIS web service– Implementation of CariCOOS-WRF wind model forcing (please see Dr. Luis

Aponte’s poster) into SWAN to improve prediction of the daily wind wave signal

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Buoy displacement during boat strike

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