The second seminar of this series will be given by
Dr Thomas Dhoop (Channel Coastal Observatory)
who will deliver an afternoon coastal seminar, on
“Spatial Characteristics and Duration of Extreme Wave Events around the English Coastline”
When: Tuesday, 06 March, 2018, 4 pm – 5 pm
Where: NOCS – Seminar Room (104/13)
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Abstract:
High waves can cause danger to life and property due to overtopping and coastal flooding, or seawall collapse. However, the impacts of a storm can vary considerably along the coast. This presentation discusses the spatial extent, intensity and duration of recent extreme wave events around the English coastline.
Using a dense network of 40 wav buoys, deployed by the National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes of England and managed by the Channel Coastal Observatory, the coastline of England is partitioned into five regions which are affected as coherent units by storms, along with a sixth, micro-region (West Lyme Bay) which experiences additional storms which have no impact on the remainder of the English Channel. Characteristic storms tracks are associated with each coastal region. The southwest region as a whole experiences the highest waves and longest duration storms, closely followed by the east coast, north of the Humber. Median storm duration in these areas exceeds 13 hours and, accordingly, extreme waves typically span High Water. Although much less prevalent than polar front storms, a number of anticyclonic storms are identified that affect the east-facing coastlines which are of similar magnitude but of much longer duration.
This research has been recently published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering : http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/6/1/14
Bio:
A native of Flanders, Thomas earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in archaeology at the KU Leuven in Belgium in 2012 and a second master’s in maritime archaeology at the University of Southampton in 2013. He completed his PhD in maritime archaeology at the latter institution in 2017.
Since 2016, Thomas has worked as a coastal scientist for the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO), where he is the project manager for the CCO’s network of wave buoys, tide gauges and met stations. He is also a visiting fellow at the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton where he continues his research on ancient ship construction, port towns and storminess. At the CCO, he is focussed on furthering the understanding of England’s coastal wave climate.
Southampton MsC ECE 