Flooding on Reef-Lined Coasts & Small Islands

How can we predict and reduce the impact of coastal flooding on vulnerable reef-lined coasts and small islands?

Wave transformation on fringing coral reefs and relation to flooding; development of early flood warning systems for reef-lined coasts; assessment of climate change impacts on reef-lined coasts and small islands.

Relevant Publications

  1. Pearson, S.G., Storlazzi, C.D., van Dongeren, A.R., Tissier, M.F.S., Reniers, A.J.H.M. (2017). A Bayesian-based system to assess wave-driven flooding hazards on coral reef-lined coasts. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122. [Link]
  2. Pearson, S.G. (2016). Predicting Wave-Induced Flooding on Low-Lying Tropical Islands Using a Bayesian Network [Link]. MSc Thesis. Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.
  3. Rueda, A., Cagigal, L., Pearson, S.G., Antolinez, J.A.A., Storlazzi, C.D., van Dongeren, A.R., Camus, P., Mendez, F.J. (2019). HyCReWW: A Hybrid Coral Reef Wave and Water Level Metamodel. Computers and Geosciences. [Link]
  4. *Scott, F., Antolinez, J.A.A., McCall, R.C., Storlazzi, C.D., Reniers, A.J.H.M., & Pearson, S.G. (2020). Hydro-morphological characterization of coral reefs for wave-runup prediction. Frontiers in Marine Science. [Link]
  5. *Roelvink, F.E., Storlazzi, C.D., van Dongeren, A.R., & Pearson, S.G. (2021). Coral reef restorations can be optimized to reduce coastal flooding hazards. Frontiers in Marine Science. [Link].
  6. *Parodi, M.U., Giardino, A., van Dongeren, A.R., Pearson, S.G., Bricker, J., & Reniers, A.J.H.M. (2020). Investigating Uncertainty in Coastal Flood Risk Assessment in Small Island Developing States. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. [Link]
  7. Pearson, S.G., Tissier, M.F.S. (2018). The Curious Undular Bore [Poster]. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2018, Washington, D.C.[Link]
  8. Pearson, S.G., van der Lugt, M., van Dongeren, A.R., Hagenaars, G., Burzel, A., van Zanten, B.T. (2018). Assessment of runup reduction potential due to coral reef restoration [Oral Presentation]. XBeach User Day 2018, Delft, the Netherlands, November 15, 2018. [Link].
  9. Pearson, S.G., van Dongeren, A.R., Storlazzi, C.D., Tissier, M.F.S, Reniers, A.J.H.M, Lapidez, J.P, Tajima, Y. Shimozono, T. (2017). BEWARE: Bayesian estimation of wave attack in reef environments [Oral Presentation]. XBeachX Conference 2017, Delft, The Netherlands. [Link]
  10. Rueda, A., Cagigal, L., Storlazzi, C.S., van Dongeren, A.R., Pearson, S.G., Marra, J., Mendez, F. (2019). Flood risk assessment in a reef-lined coastline [Poster]. Coastal Sediments ’19, May 27-31, 2019, St. Petersburg, Florida. [Link].
  11. Tissier, M.F.S., *Dekkers, J., van Dongeren, A.R., Pearson, S.G., Reniers, A.J.H.M. (2018). Etude experimentale de la formation de ressauts ondules sur un recif frangeant [Oral Presentation]. Journees Nationales Genie Cotier – Genie Civil, May 29, 2018, La Rochelle, France. [Link].
  12. van Dongeren, A.R., Storlazzi, C.S., Quataert, E., Pearson, S.G. (2017). Wave dynamics and flooding on low-lying tropical reef-lined coasts [Oral Presentation]. Coastal Dynamics 2017, June 12-16, 2019, Helsingor, Denmark. [Link].
  13. McCall, R., Nederhoff, K., Quataert, E., Hagenaars, G., Storlazzi, C., Pearson, S.G., van Dongeren, A.R. (2018). Towards an global forecast for wave-induced flooding on coral reef-lined coastlines [Poster]. American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2018, Washington, D.C. [Link].

Relevant Student Projects (Co-)Supervised

  1. Vesna Bertoncelj. Efficient and accurate modeling of wave-driven flooding on coral reef-lined coasts: On the interpolation of parameterized boundary conditions. [Link] Jun 2020 – May 2021.  In cooperation with Deltares. 
  2. Paul van Wiechen. Wave dissipation on a fringing coral reef: an experimental study. [Link].  Dec 2019 – Aug 2020. In cooperation with Boskalis.
  3. Tije Bakker. Flood risk assessment for Majuro Atoll considering compound events and associated uncertainties. [Link]. Jul 2019 – Present. In cooperation with Deltares. 
  4. Camila Gaido. Infragravity wave transformation on fringing coral reefs. [Link]. Feb 2019 – Dec 2019.
  5. Hilary Richards. Flood hazard prediction for St. Martin. [Link]. Feb 2019 – Jul 2019. In cooperation with Deltares. 
  6. Matteo Parodi. Investigating uncertainty in coastal flood risk analyses in Small Island Developing States – a case study: Sao Tome & Principe. [Thesis, Paper] Feb 2019 – Jul 2019. In cooperation with the Deltares.
  7. Fred Scott. Data reduction techniques of coral reef morphology and hydrodynamics for use in wave runup prediction. [Thesis, Paper]. Feb 2019 – Jul 2019. In cooperation with Deltares and the US Geological Survey.
  8. Floortje Roelvink. Coral Restoration for Coastal Hazard Risk Reduction: The effect of coral restoration on wave transformation over various reef morphologies and the resulting runup. [Link]. Sep 2018 – Jul 2019. In cooperation with Deltares and the US Geological Survey.
  9. Timo Veldt. The effect of wave directional spread on coastal hazards at coastlines fronted by a coral reef [Link]. Jul 2018 – Jun 2019. In cooperation with Deltares.
  10. Jochem Dekkers. Experimental Study on Undular Bore Development Over a Fringing Reef [Link]. Oct 2016 – Jul 2018.

Relevant Blog Posts

Super Speedy Reef Modelling

Coral reefs and the islands that they protect from flooding are in big trouble. This is a recurring theme on this blog, and now it’s time for the latest update. We are currently building towards the development of an early flood warning system for low-lying tropical islands fronted by coral reefs. Our previous work on…

by sgpearson

Restoring Coral Reefs for Flood Protection

We frequently hear in the news about dying coral reefs, and also about the threats of sea level rise and climate change. But there is a key gap: what if we can hit two birds with one stone, and restore damaged ecosystems while providing vital protection against flooding? Our latest research demonstrates how coastal managers…

by sgpearson

Can 3D-Printed Corals Help Us Prevent Flooding?

Coral reefs around the world are dying; that much is clear from the headlines we see in the news that grow increasingly distressed with each passing year. This is an ecological catastrophe, but are we also losing another key benefit of reefs? Coral reefs provide a form of natural protection against wave-driven flooding on tropical…

by sgpearson

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