6.0 Summary: Ocean Science for Offshore and Coastal Engineering

Description

The research in this Node was undertaken to enhance engineering design and operations through understanding and prediction of the physical oceanographic processes over the vast regions of operations, including the continental slope and down to the abyssal plain.

The research is to support some of the largest ocean developments in the world in a hostile environment where there are many oceanographic unknowns. While the work considers much of the WA marine region, the prime focus is the North West Shelf which has a number of unique physical characteristics.

Aims

• Project 6.1: To better understand how to manage current facilities and optimise the design of future facilities in West Australian coastal waters under the influence of climate change.
• Project 6.2: To better understand how we manage current facilities and optimise the design of future facilities on the North West Shelf and adjacent seas in the face of the intense forcing from tidally driven waves and currents.
• Project 6.3: To better understand how we use the new generation of instrument systems such as ocean gliders to obtain sustained observations of the ocean conditions in Western Australia.

Methods

• Analyse past field observations of internal tides at number sites on North West Shelf.
• Build laboratory models to study internal tide generation and dynamics.
• Build hybrid numerical models linking global ocean circulation models (BLUElink) with regional scale ocean models (ROMS).
• Develop very high resolution non-hydrostatic numerical ocean models to couple with regional ocean models.
• Build high resolution benthic boundary layer instruments for ocean measurements diverse sites on North West Shelf.
• Obtain understanding of internal tide dynamics in southern portions of North West Shelf; and
• Deploy ocean gliders monitor to obtain near-real time data from the continental shelf and slope regions.

Reports

Bluteau, C., Jones, N., Ivey, G., & Pattiaratchi, C. (2010). Bottom boundary layer dynamics in an internal wave generation zone. In G. D. Mallinson, & J. E. Cater (Eds.), 17th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (pp. Paper 079). Auckland, New Zealand: University of Auckland.

Bluteau, C., Jones, N., & Ivey, G. (2011). Estimating turbulent kinetic energy dissipation using the inertial subrange method in environmental flows. LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY-METHODS, 9, 302-321. doi.org/10.4319/lom.2011.9.302

Bluteau, C. E., Jones, N. L., and Ivey, G. N. ( 2011), Dynamics of a tidally‐forced stratified shear flow on the continental slope, J. Geophys. Res., 116, C11017, doi:10.1029/2011JC007214.

Bosserelle, C. (2014). Morphodynamics and sand transport on perched beaches.

Bosserelle, C., Pattiaratchi, C. & Haigh, I. (2012) Inter-annual variability and longer-term changes in the wave climate of Western Australia between 1970 and 2009. Ocean Dynamics 62, 63–76. doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0487-3

Gallop, Shari & Bosserelle, Cyprien & Pattiaratchi, Charitha & Eliot, Ian. (2011). Hydrodynamic and morphological response of a perched beach during sea breeze activity. Journal of Coastal Research. SI64. 75-79.

Gallop, S.L., Bosserelle, C., Pattiaratchi, C.B., Eliot, I., (2011). Hydrodynamic and morphological response of a perched beach during sea breeze. Proceedings of the 11th International Coastal Symposium ICS 22 2009 Szczecin, Poland. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 64, pp. 75–79.

Gallop, S. L., Bosserelle, C., Pattiaratchi, C., & Eliot, I., (2011). Rock topography causes spatial variation in the wave, current and beach response to sea breeze activity. Marine Geology, 290, 29–40. doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2011.10.002

Gallop, S.L., Verspecht, F. & Pattiaratchi, C.B. (2012) Sea breezes drive currents on the inner continental shelf off southwest Western Australia. Ocean Dynamics 62, 569–583. doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0515-3

Haigh, I.D., Eliot, M., Pattiaratchi, C., (2011). Global influences of the 18.61 year nodal cycle and 8.85 year cycle of lunar perigee on high tidal levels, J. Geophys. Res., 116, C06025, doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006645

Haigh, I. D., Wahl, T., Rohling, E. J., Price, R. M., Pattiaratchi, C., Calafat, F. M., & Dangendorf, S. (2014). Timescales for detecting a significant acceleration in sea level rise. Nature Communications, 5, 11pp. [4635]. doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4635

Haigh, I.D., MacPherson, L.R., Mason, M.S, Wijeratne E.M.S., Pattiaratchi C, Crompton R.P., George S (2014) Estimating present day extreme water level exceedance probabilities around the coastline of Australia: tropical cyclone-induced storm surges. Clim Dyn 42, 139–157. doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1653-0

Haigh, Ivan & Wijeratne, Ems & MacPherson, Leigh & Mason, Matthew & Pattiaratchi, Charitha & Crompton, Ryan & George, Steve. (2012). Estimating present day extreme total water level exceedance probabilities around the coastline of Australia. SESE report. 177. ISBN: 978-0-9871939-2-6

Ivey, G. (2011). Tides and Internal Waves on the Continental Shelf. In A. Schiller, & G. B. Brassington (Eds.), Operational Oceanography in the 21st Century (Vol. 1, pp. 225-235). (Operational Oceanography in the 21st Century). Dordrecht: Springer. doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0332-2

Lim, K. W., Ivey, G., & Jones, N. (2010). Experiments on the generation of internal waves over continental shelf topography. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 663, 385-400. doi.org/10.1017/S002211201000354X

Rayson, P., M. Meuleners, G.N. Ivey, N. Jones and G. Wake (2011a) Field and numerical study of the internal tide dynamics in the Browse Basin, Australian North West Shelf. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 116: C01016. doi.org/10.1029/2009JC005881

Rayson, M, N. L. Jones, G.N. Ivey and O.B. Fringer (2011b) Internal hydraulic jump formation in a deep water, continuously stratified unsteady channel flow, Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium on Stratified Flows, Rome, August 2011

Van Gastel, P., G.N. Ivey, M. Meuleners and O. Fringer (2009) The variability of the large-amplitude internal wave field on the Australian North West Shelf. Cont. Shelf Res., 29:1373-1383 doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2009.02.006