A coastal area morphodynamics model

A coastal area morphodynamics model was developed which is capable of modelling both short-term and long-term bathymetric changes in coastal areas. The model is composed of three main modules: wave transformation module, hydrodynamic module and sediment transport and morphology module. The three main modules run simultaneously where the waves and coastal currents information are passed to the sediment transport module, which calculates the sediment transport fluxes and the corresponding bathymetric changes. The model’s output is linked through dynamic plotting libraries, which produces contour plots, vector plots and animation files for the waves, currents, sediment transport fluxes and bathymetry. The model’s output compares very well with other commercial models for the case of an offshore breakwater over a sloping beach.