Project D1

To satisfy the commercial demands of expanding economies, coastal and nearshore environments have experienced an unprecedented degree of constructional change over past decades in many parts of the world. Among the most important physical responses triggered by human interventions in the coastal zone are changes in flow patterns, morphodynamics, and sediment budgets. The aim of this project is to carry out specific case studies using new, sophisticated survey techniques by which physical changes produced by human interventions in the coastal zone can be documented and quantified.

Small scale dune dynamics

High-resolution bathymetry and hydology was measured along a large ebb-directed compound dune with superimposed small dunes in the Grådyb tidal inlet channel in the Danish Wadden Sea throughout a tidal cycle. bathymetry at centimeter-scale accuracy was acquired using an integrated multibeam echo sounder system, while flow velocities and echo intensities were measured using an acoustic Doppler current profiler. ...more

Large scale dune dynamics

The existence of barchanoid-shaped large dunes in the Grådyb tidal inlet channel in the Danish Wadden Sea is explained. The development of these dunes is due to an increase in dune celerity from the center of the channel to the sides. ...more

Local scour in a tidal environment

We have studied the local scour at the base of a slender steel cylinder of 1.5 m in diameter installed in the Otzumer Balje tidal inlet in the southern North Sea using high-resolution MBES combined with LRK-positioning, ADCP measurements for mapping the tidal currents, and grab-sampling for determining the grain-size of surficial sediments.The effect of the pile on the seabed is traceable to the distance of several tens of meters from the pile, morphologically as well as in grain-size distribution of the surficial sediments.

The impact of dredge spoil disposal on seabed morphology

As modern ships require increased navigation depth bed material from shipping channels is dredged and subsequently dumped off-shore. These activities cause substantial changes in local morphological and sedimentological patterns which may constitute in turn a major problem to sustainable, and hence, cost-effective waterway management.