Monitoring and numerical modeling of nearshore hydrodynamics and coastal erosion in Africa (2012-2017)
Coastal zones are home to several vital infrastructure activities, including commercial and fishing ports, aquaculture farms and are also home to an important fraction of the world population. Deplorably, these zones around the world are extremely vulnerable today: unprecedented pressures of industrial and urban development affect water quality, while climate change related devastations, such as the growing intensities of cyclonic storms, the rise in sea surface temperature, sea surges, and sea level rise lead to increased coastal erosion. Therefore, monitoring the quality of coastal waters as well as its hydrodynamics (water level, wind speed and direction, wave characteristics) are paramount in order to tackle environmental issues related to coastal erosion.
The NANO-Africa Nearshore Hydrodynamics Group (NHG)’s current project aims to measure hydrodynamic parameters at the coasts of Ivory Coast and Tunisia as well as water quality parameters at the coasts of Brazil and Tunisia. Tide-wave gauges and weather stations have been deployed, and time-series on nearshore met-ocean data (wind, wave, sea level) have been collected.
This observation data is currently being used in numerical models with Delft-3D for nearshore flow and wave simulation.
Participating countries
– Angola – Ivory Coast – Mauritius – Nigeria – Tunisia
General objectives
- Develop common guidelines for monitoring circulation and erosion in coastal areas;
- Develop common guidelines for monitoring circulation and erosion in coastal areas;
- Set up sustainable nearshore hydrodynamic and meteorological monitoring observatories in Angola, Ivory Coast, Mauritius and Tunisia;
- Gather the available data on circulation and erosion, with an emphasis on the impacts of wind-driven waves in specific sites of countries participating in the project;
- Strengthen the observation of coastal zone hydrodynamics and promote long-term collaboration between the members of NANO-Africa;
- Implement high-resolution model to study the hydrodynamics and sediment transport in specific sites of countries participating in the project.
General achievements
- Workshop “Challenges in Coastal Pollution and Erosion in North and West Africa” in Dakar, Senegal (10 – 14 December 2012);
- Workshop “Challenges in Coastal Pollution and Erosion in North and West Africa” in Dakar, Senegal (10 – 14 December 2012);
- Workshop “Monitoring Coastal Pollution and Erosion in North and West Africa”, Tunis, Tunisia (3 – 5 June 2013);
- Workshop “Setting up coastal observatories” Abidjan,Ivory Coast (9 -13 June 2014);
- Workshop “Introduction to hydrodynamic modeling with Delft-3D numerical model”, held at Stellenbosch, South Africa (5-9 December 2015);
- Deployment of tide-wave gauges and installation of portable weather stations (Tide-wave gauges: RBR-Virtuoso D-Wave, Tide gauge: RBR-Solo D-Tide, Weather station: Gill Metpak), acquired with NANO funding, in Tunisia, Mauritius and Ivory Coast;
- Provision of training to project members on setting up coastal observatories and introduction to modeling using Delft-3D package;
- Collection and analyses of met-ocean data in Tunisia, Mauritius and Ivory Coast;
- Incorporation of in situ sampled (sea level, wind speed and direction) and remote sensing data (wave height and wind speed and direction) into the coupled Mike21-HD (hydrodynamic) and Mike21-SW (spectral wave) wind-driven wave model;
- Incorporation of in situ sampled data (sea level, wind speed and direction) into Delft-3D hydrodynamic-sediment transport numerical model.
Scientific outputs
Journal Articles
- E Toualy, A Aman, P Koffi , F Marin and TE Wango. 2015. Ocean swell variability along the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea. African Journal of Marine Science,37(3),353-361, DOI: 10.2989/1814232X.2015.1074940).
Technical Reports
- V. G. Koutitonsky, H. Smeti, A. Atoui, T. Queiroz, E. Toulany, T.-E. Wango, E.A. Akinnigbagbe and A. Adegbie. Nearshore wave-climate modeling at eroding coastal sites in Angola, Nigeria, Ivory- Coast and Tunisia. NANO-Africa Technical Report. 2013. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1826.1289.
Societal outputs
- Sustained interaction with the local community, especially the fishermen, through involving them in the field work;
- Raise the awareness of the fishermen about the importance of the observation equipment acquired with the NANO funding. The fishermen volunteered to keep an eye on the observation equipment (meteorological station) after its deployment.
Project contributions to NANO News
NN2 – pp. 6
NN3 – pp.12
NN4 – pp.7
NN5 – pp. 15
NN6 – pp.4
NN7 – pp. 12
NN8 – pp. 21
NN10 – pp.11, pp.24
NN11 – pp.10
NN12 – pp. 12
Access all NANO News issues here
Coordinators (period)
Yosra Khameri (2012)
Houssem Smeti (2013, 2015-2017)
Tiago Queiroz (2014)
Advising Scientists
Dr. Christo Rautenbach, South African Weather Service, South Africa
Dr Gerry Plumley, NF-POGO CofE, USA
Dr Vladimir Koutitonsky, CEO at Hydrosoft SA, Canada
Participants
| PARTICIPANT | AFFILIATION | COUNTRY |
|---|---|---|
| Abdelfattah Atoui | National School of Engineers of Tunis | Tunisia |
| Arnaud Nicolas | Mauritius Oceanography Institute | Mauritius |
| Edward Akintoye Akinnigbagbe | Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research | Nigeria |
| Elysee Toualy | University Félix-Houphouët-Boigny | Ivory Coast |
| Houssem Smeti | UNDP | Tunisia |
| Krishma Modoosoodun | Mauritius Oceanography Institute | Mauritius |
| Sebastian Krieger | Sao Paulo University | Brazil |
| Ted Edgard Wango | University Félix-Houphouët-Boigny | Ivory Coast |
| Tiago Queiroz | University of Agostinho Neto | Angola |
Documentation (members only)
This content is for members only. You must log in to view this content.