The unstoppable demand on the coast for recreational and tourism activities has increased the need for shore and beach protection, as well as the construction of artificial beaches, ports and harbours. Many coastlines are subjected to the direct impact of wind, swell and storm wave activity. As a result, wind-space and wave-driven currents are the dominant mechanisms controlling littoral sand transport and determining the nearshore morphology. In addition, many other physical phenomena, such as tides and associated currents, long waves and storm surges, can play a significant role in the dynamic behaviour of the coastal zone. Special relevance must also be attributed to extreme events. Distinctive features of coastal zone dynamics are not only due to the nearshore hydrodynamics, but also to the complex local behaviour of the atmosphere. Understanding the meteorology of the coastal zone is complicated by the inherent heterogeneity of its atmospheric boundary layer, due to the irregularity of the coastal topography and the different land sea surface roughness and thermal properties.As a result, complex interactions occur between the atmosphere, ocean and land, inducing large temporal and spatial variations in air-sea exchange processes and wind strength and direction. The International Conference on Physical Coastal Processes, Management and Engineering Wave modelling and prediction in coastal regions includes the following topics: Wave Modelling; Wave Transformation Hydrodynamics; Extreme Events and Sea Level Rise; Sea Defence and Energy Recovery; Hydrodynamic Forces and Sediment Transport; Pollution and Dispersion; Planning and Beach Design.
Section 1: Wave modelling Modelling mean wave direction distribution with the von Mises model; An analysis of measurement from a 3D oceanic wave field; Tidal effect on chemical spills in San Diego Bay Section 2: Wave transformation hydrodynamics Use of video imagery to test model predictions of surf heights; The sea-defence function of micro-tidal temperate coastal wetlands; Numerical investigation of sandy beach evolution using an incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics method Section 3: Extreme events and sea level rise A model to predict the coastal sea level variations and surge; On a joint distribution of two successive surf parameters; Simulation of storm surge and overland flows using geographical information system applications; Decadal changes in wave climate and sea level regime: the main causes of the recent intensification of coastal geomorphic processes along the coasts of Western Estonia? Section 4: Sea defence and energy recovery Coastal storm damage reduction program in Salerno Province after the winter 2008 storms; Wave energy conversion systems: optimal localization procedure; Experimental study of multi-functional artificial reef parameters; Beach erosion management in Small Island Developing States: Indian Ocean case studies Section 5: Hydrodynamic forces and sediment transport A numerical study on near-bed flow mechanisms around a marine pipeline close to a flat seabed including estimation of bedload sediment transport; Wave-induced steady streaming and net sediment transport in ocean bottom boundary layers; Measuring suspended sand transport using a pulse-coherent acoustic Doppler profiler; Sediment flux in a rip channel on a barred intermediate beach under low wave energy Section 6: Pollution and dispersion Environmental impact assessment and HazOp study of the drilling cuttings confinement process into non-productive wells in marine platforms in Campeche, Mexico; Operational tools in the Basque Country (south-eastern Bay of Biscay) for water quality management within harbours; Bayesian inference for oil spill related Net Environmental Benefit Analysis; Oil accident response simulation: allocation of potential places of refuge; Effects of simulated acid rain on tropical trees of the coastal zone of Campeche, Mexico Section 7: Planning and beach design New requirements on beach design: limiting states condition; Geographic information systems for integrated coastal management and development of sustainability indicators
