Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Monday 29 March 2010, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Philip Gillibrand
National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research
NZ

The Use of Hydrodynamic Models to Address Coastal Environment Problems in Scotland and New Zealand

Over the past three decades, coastal hydrodynamic models have developed into essential and ubiquitous coastal management tools. In addition to contributing to improved understanding of physical coastal processes through the synthesis of sparse field observations, hydrodynamic models regularly underpin research into the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the impacts of human activity on the marine environment. Traditionally, coastal models have used finite-difference methods on structured grids, but the past ten years has seen a blossoming of finite-volume and finite-element models using unstructured grids.

In this presentation, I will describe two applications of contrasting hydrodynamic models to address coastal environmental issues. The first study used a finite-difference model coupled to a particle-tracking model to investigate the dispersal of parasitic larval sea lice from salmon farms in a Scottish fjord. Lice from farms have been blamed for decimating local indigenous salmonid populations. The results demonstrate the spatial range over which larval lice may disperse, and illustrate how interactions between environmental forcing and larval behaviour affect lice distributions. In the second study, a finite element model is used to predict coastal flooding hazards from tsunami and storm surge in New Zealand. For each case, initialisation and forcing of the model will be described, and sample results presented. Predictions of coastal inundation extent and depth are used to inform regional evacuation plans.

Seminar recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Clothilde Langlais, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5399
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 11/05/10