Again because of the pandemic, we gathered virtually for a successful PhD defense by Ajimon Thomas. Most attendees joined online, and Ajimon shared his research with his fellow students and faculty committee. Congrats to Ajimon!
Category Archives: About Us
Socially Distant Movie Party
The coastal engineering team at NC State enjoyed a Socially Distant Movie Party on Sat Apr 4. From our separate homes, we watched Sharknado and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which are mildly “coastal” and good distractions. It was fun to connect with each other, even from a distance. Stay healthy!
Carter Rucker defends MS Thesis
Despite a challenging situation in the world, we gathered for a successful MS thesis defense by Carter Rucker. With only a few people in the room and a larger online audience, Carter presented his research and answered questions with great skill. Congrats to Carter!
News: CCHT Leads a Core Research Project for NC Sea Grant
2020/01/17 – NC Sea Grant News
NC Sea Grant Announces 2020–2022 Core Research Projects
NC Sea Grant Announces 2020–2022 Core Research Projects
North Carolina Sea Grant’s core research projects for 2020 to 2022 will apply innovative approaches to coastal issues. Research teams across the state are starting new studies on coastal resilience, climate change, flooding, shellfish and aquaculture, environmental literacy and more.
“Our core research examines real-world needs of our coastal communities and ecosystems,” says Susan White, executive director of North Carolina Sea Grant. “We are pleased to have so many multidisciplinary collaborations that address our program’s strategic focus areas.”
Carter Rucker helps with Pilot Study for DUNEX
CCHT member Carter Rucker joined a field pilot study with other members of the NCSU Coastal Engineering Team. The collaborative During Nearshore Event Experiment (DUNEX) pilot study is now underway along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, home to the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory’s Field Research Facility.
DUNEX is a multi-agency, academic and non-governmental organization collaborative community experiment to study nearshore coastal processes during coastal storms. The multi-phase experiment plan begins with the pilot study, followed by the full experiment starting in fall 2020 and extending into winter 2021. Learn more here.
Carter Rucker (right) setting markers in the Pea Island marsh preparing for ADCP surveys later in the week. Photo courtesy Beth Sciaudone.
Research Image #2: Breaching of Barrier Island
This animation shows the storm-driven dune erosion and breaching on a barrier system. This is part of Alireza’s erosion and breaching modeling research.
News: Connecting Erosion to Flooding
2019/09/26 – NC Sea Grant Coastwatch
XBeach Model Predicts Storm Impacts on Beaches and Dunes
XBeach Model Predicts Storm Impacts on Beaches and Dunes
Alireza Gharagozlou (below) is a doctoral student in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at NC State University. He studies how to connect predictions of beach and dune erosion to community-wide flooding and serves with Casey Dietrich on NC State’s Coastal & Computational Hydraulics Team. North Carolina Sea Grant has supported their work.
Alireza surveying the beach profile near Hatteras, NC, with RTK-GPS after Hurricane Florence.
2019/04/26 – NC Sea Grant Coastwatch Currents
Model Predicts Storm Impacts on Beaches and Dunes
During storms, strong waves and currents can erode beaches and dunes and create low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding. We use field surveys and a computer model called XBeach to predict this erosion, as well as to understand its interactions with storm-driven flooding of larger regions.
Computer models allow us to see how the storm surge and waves impact the beach over time, and which locations are vulnerable to large-scale damage. Good predictions of such storm impacts help emergency managers take better-informed measures to protect coastal areas. Understanding vulnerabilities also instructs highway access design and residential area planning.
We used the XBeach computer model on more than 30 kilometers of Hatteras Island between Avon and Rodanthe to explore how to connect erosion predictions to larger areas. Could XBeach cover more of the island, yet still provide good erosion predictions at beach and dune scales? And how could we connect erosion predictions to other models for storm surge and flooding?
News: Dietrich Promoted to Associate Professor
2019/06/03 – NCSU Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
Faculty Promotions
Faculty Promotions
We are pleased to announce that we have had several faculty promoted during this year in recognition of their excellent contributions to research and teaching.
Dr. Casey Dietrich was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Dietrich, who leads the Coastal and Computational Hydraulics Team has developed computational models that predict storm surge and coastal flooding. He teaches courses in fluid mechanics and coastal engineering.