CAREER: Improving the Understanding of Coastal Erosion during Extreme Events and with Sea Level Rise through Geotechnical Investigation

这项教师早期职业发展计划（Career）资助将支持为海岸侵蚀的潜在机制提供新知识的研究，特别是关于极端事件和海平面上升的研究。海岸侵蚀和土地流失正威胁着美国许多地区的海岸线和沿海社区。飓风等极端事件引发的风暴潮以及海平面上升正在加速海岸侵蚀。近几十年来，海岸侵蚀的预测和评估取得了重大进展。然而，在沿海受影响土壤的特性和力学方面存在着重大的知识差距。该奖项支持基础研究，以促进对沿海地区波浪、海流、潮汐和相关形态动力学的土壤行为的理解。这方面的知识将有助于改进海岸侵蚀的预测、评估和缓解以及沿海基础设施的稳定性。该奖项涉及多个学科，包括岩土工程、海岸科学与工程、地球物理学和海洋学。多学科方法将以现场和实验室实验为特色。该教育计划包括为大一本科生提供实地研究体验，重点是低收入家庭的学生。它还包括一个成人教育项目，向公众宣传海平面上升、海岸淹没和侵蚀对沿海基础设施造成的风险。该教育计划将有助于培养新一代海岸和岩土工程工程师，扩大土木工程中代表性不足的群体的参与，提高公众对海平面上升、海岸淹没和侵蚀等风险的认识，并与美国国家科学基金会的INCLUDES项目保持一致。由于受能量水动力和形态动力学影响的沿海地区缺乏岩土工程数据，岩土土行为在海岸侵蚀过程中的作用尚未完全了解。本研究旨在填补这一知识空白：1)测量水动力和形态动力学作用下沿海和近岸沉积物的泥沙强度和孔隙压力；2)测试综合剪切强度和孔隙压力的Shields参数新公式；3)研究淹没和洪水事件期间沿海地区岩土土参数变化对可蚀性的影响。研究目标将通过多学科领域和实验室测试项目来实现，同时观察岩土参数、形态动力学和流体动力学。所获得的知识将有助于增进对土壤力学和水下沉积物输运过程之间相互作用的了解，并有助于改进目前海岸侵蚀的预测方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant will support research that will contribute new knowledge to the underlying mechanisms of coastal erosion, particularly with regard to extreme events and sea level rise. Coastal erosion and land loss is threatening many sections of the U.S. coastlines and coastal communities. Extreme events such as hurricanes driving storm waves and surges, as well as sea level rise are accelerating coastal erosion. The prediction and assessment of coastal erosion has advanced significantly over the last decades. However, significant knowledge gaps exist with regard to the characterization and mechanics of impacted coastal soils. This award supports fundamental research to advance the understanding of soil behavior in response to waves, currents, tides, and associated morphodynamics in the coastal zone. This knowledge will contribute to the improvement of the prediction, assessment and mitigation of coastal erosion and stability of coastal infrastructure. The award involves several disciplines including geotechnical engineering, coastal sciences and engineering, geophysics, and oceanography. The multi-disciplinary approach will feature field and laboratory experiments. The education plan includes a field research experience for freshman undergraduates with an emphasis on students from low-income backgrounds. It also includes an adult education program to educate the public about risks to coastal infrastructure associated with sea level rise, coastal inundation and erosion. The education plan will help to train a new generation of coastal and geotechnical engineers, broaden the participation of underrepresented groups in civil engineering, and raise public awareness for risks associated to sea level rise, coastal inundation and erosion, and is aligned with NSF INCLUDES.The role of geotechnical soil behavior for coastal erosion processes is still not fully understood, mostly resulting from a lack of geotechnical data in coastal areas affected by energetic hydrodynamics and morphodynamics. This research is to fill this knowledge gap by: 1) measuring sediment strength and pore pressure of coastal and nearshore sediments under hydrodynamic forcing and morphodynamics, 2) testing a new formulation of the Shields parameter integrating shear strength and pore pressure, and 3) investigating the impact of variations of geotechnical soil parameters in coastal areas on erodibility during inundation and flood events. The research objectives will be achieved through multi-disciplinary field and laboratory testing programs, enabling simultaneous observations of geotechnical parameters, morphodynamics, and hydrodynamics. The knowledge gained will contribute to improving the understanding of the interaction between soil mechanics and subaqueous sediment transport processes, as well as to the improvement of current prediction methods for coastal erosion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.