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

这项学院早期职业发展计划(Career)赠款将支持研究，这些研究将为海岸侵蚀的潜在机制，特别是与极端事件和海平面上升有关的潜在机制贡献新的知识。海岸侵蚀和土地流失正在威胁着美国海岸线和沿海社区的许多部分。飓风引发的风暴浪和巨浪以及海平面上升等极端事件正在加速海岸侵蚀。在过去的几十年里，海岸侵蚀的预测和评估有了很大的进步。然而，在受影响的沿海土壤的特性和机理方面，存在着重大的知识空白。该奖项支持基础研究，以促进对海岸带土壤行为对波浪、水流、潮汐和相关地貌动力学的响应的理解。这一知识将有助于改进对海岸侵蚀和沿海基础设施稳定性的预测、评估和缓解。该奖项涉及岩土工程、海岸科学与工程、地球物理和海洋学等多个学科。这种多学科的方法将以实地和实验室实验为特色。该教育计划包括一项针对新生本科生的实地研究体验，重点是来自低收入背景的学生。它还包括一个成人教育项目，教育公众与海平面上升、海岸洪水和侵蚀相关的沿海基础设施风险。该教育计划将有助于培养新一代海岸和岩土工程师，扩大代表性不足群体对土木工程的参与，提高公众对与海平面上升、海岸淹没和侵蚀有关的风险的认识，并与NSF INCLUDES保持一致。土工土壤行为在海岸侵蚀过程中的作用仍未得到充分了解，主要是由于受能量水动力学和地貌动力学影响的沿海地区缺乏岩土工程数据。为了填补这一认识空白，本研究通过：1)测量海岸和近岸沉积物在水动力和地貌动力学作用下的强度和孔压；2)检验综合抗剪强度和孔压的Shields参数的新公式；3)研究沿海地区岩土参数的变化对淹没和洪水过程中侵蚀性的影响。研究目标将通过多学科的现场和实验室测试计划来实现，从而能够同时观测岩土参数、地貌动力学和水动力学。所获得的知识将有助于更好地理解土力学和水下泥沙输送过程之间的相互作用，以及改进目前的海岸侵蚀预测方法。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.