Research Projects

The Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. SUSTAIN Laboratory has played a major role in high-impact national and international research projects, such as the following.

Cards

air sea momentum transfer extreme wind conditions

Air-Sea Momentum Transfer in Extreme Wind Conditions (National Science Foundation):

Rapid intensification of hurricanes as they approach landfall can pose a significant risk to coastal communities because of the shortened time windows available for response planning. The intensification rate and magnitude are not well predicted by existing operational hurricane forecast models. A likely reason for this is that all such models rely on parameterizations for air-sea momentum and enthalpy transfer rates that have not been verified in extreme wind conditions. To address this fundamental gap, we propose to conduct a series of laboratory and numerical experiments to quantify the rate of air-sea momentum transfer in extreme wind conditions. This data will then be used to develop and test new parameterizations for the momentum transfer in hurricanes.

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Can a spray infused boundary layer alter the air-sea momentum transfer rates in high winds:

The goal of this project was to determine the effect that sea spray has on the bulk momentum transfer coefficient between the air and water in very high winds. To achieve this goal a series of comprehensive laboratory experiments was designed to isolate and quantify the spray effects on the momentum transfer. We have tested new approaches for defining spray concentration profiles and have conducted observations with existing technology to better define the size distributions of the spray. We have expanded these observations to very small particles and have observed a well defined size spectrum. A series of spray related papers has significantly contributed to our understanding of the spray generation processes in high winds and the vertical distribution of that spray. We have also highlighted differences between saltwater and freshwater spume generation that were not previously known.

air sea momentum transfer extreme wind conditions

Coastal Land Air-Sea Interaction (CLASI) DRI (Office of Naval Research):

In collaboration with partners at the Naval Postgraduate School, the Naval Research Laboratory’s Marine Meteorology Division (Monterey), Ohio State University, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Miami’s Air-Sea Interaction group is beginning a multi-year field campaign: The Coastal Land Air-Sea Interaction (CLASI) project. The main goal of this research is to improve coastal wind forecast capabilities which have been known to have significant errors within 6 km of the shoreline. Existing models are based on bulk parameterizations that were developed through research over the open ocean. These do not account for the variability observed in coastal waters due to currents, wave shoaling, and topography on either side of the shoreline. This program will involve direct observations of the relevant parameters using our Air Sea Interaction Spar (ASIS) buoys, smaller versions of the buoy (ISPAR), wave, buoys, land towers, aircraft flyovers, radiosondes and other oceanographic and meteorological instrumentation at multiple coastal locations beginning in April, 2021 in the north end of Monterey Bay.

air sea momentum transfer extreme wind conditions

Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbons in the Environment (CARTHE, Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative).

CARTHE is a collaborative research consortium that studies the transport and fate of crude oil and its impact on marine and coastal ecosystems following the Deepwater Horizon blowout event in April 2010. Over the past ten years, CARTHE has been strongly supported by field campaigns supported by research vessels, small boats, specialized drifters, helicopters, and aerial drones. The consortium is composed of over forty faculty, postdocs, students, and research and administrative staff from fourteen universities and research institutions. CARTHE’s research efforts include Lagrangian and surface dispersion, vertical oil transport, surface wind and current reconstruction, target drifter deployments as tracers, numerical modeling, hurricane-induced oil transport and mixing, submesoscale fronts and Langmuir circulation imaging and modeling and many others. Members of the SUSTAIN laboratory have been involved in numerical modeling, drifter design and deployment, field operations, aerial drone construction and data collections, and aboard-ship instrument support in support of CARTHE operations.

air sea momentum transfer extreme wind conditions

Enhancing the Resilience and Climate Readiness of South Florida’s Most Vulnerable and Valuable Shorelines Through Coral Reef Restoration: From Coral Colonies to Coastlines (FL).

The shoreline of SE Florida’s “Urban Core”, stretching from Miami-Dade to Broward County, is one of the most susceptible in the US to the growing impacts of extreme weather and sea level rise. Local government is already spending $100Ms to mitigate the impacts of waves, storm surge, and flooding by deploying pumps, raising streets, and building sea walls. This project complements these “cement-based” infrastructure improvements by implementing a comprehensive, ecosystem-based coral reef restoration program to plant over 150,000 corals (including three threatened species) to restore over 125 acres of reef habitats as a cost-effective way to buffer coastal threats and provide significant ecological and economic benefits.

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HuRRI : Hurricane Resilience Research InstitutePI: Antonio Nanni , UM CAE

The impact of recent hurricanes in the southern United States demonstrates the vulnerability of coastal communities to the destructive forces of strong winds and high flooding. Structural vulnerability stems from non-suitable traditional construction materials and methods, e.g., the inherent decay and corrosion of steel reinforcement. The HuRRI-Compositesproject aims to develop resilient, non-corrosive, sustainable, and cost-effective Reinforced Concrete (RC) and Prestressed Concrete (PC) structures using Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP). The HuRRI-Compositesproject targets six areas of interest for the Hurricane Resilience Research Institute:

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IDEA Project NCHRP-213: SEAHIVE – Sustainable Estuarine and Marine Revetment PI: Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, UM CAE

Coral reefs function as submerged breakwaters reducing wave action and providing flood-reduction benefits for coastal communities. Although the wave-reducing capacity of coral reefs has been associated with wave breaking and friction, quantifying the contribution of corals in their wave-energy dissipation mechanisms remains a challenging topic. In the absence of universally accepted guidelines for employing artificial coral reefs for coastal protection and a lack of direct measures of their effects in wave energy at relevant scales, a series of experiments at the University of Miami’s Surge-Structure-Atmosphere-INteraction (SUSTAIN) Facility were conducted on a trapezoidal reef model with and without corals to evaluate the impact of corals on the wave-reducing capacity of the reef. It is shown that the artificial coral reef has a higher wave-reducing capability compared to its corresponding breakwater model (reef without corals).

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Investigation of Oil Spill Transport in a Coupled Wind-Wave Current Environment Using Simulation and Laboratory Studies (GOMRI-2015-V-0258):

This proposal studies the transport of oil droplets in the upper water column subject to breaking waves and the transport of oiled sprays in wind over waves, Specifically, using high winds in the ASIST, we study the impact of crude oil on: i) the production and transport of sea spray; ii) the slope and energy of small waves; iii) on turbulence and mixing in the air and water;  and iv) on the production and fate of bubbles.

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Investigating Gas Exchange Processes using Noble Gases in a Controlled Environment (National Science Foundation):

Gas exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean is not fully understood, and is critical for understanding climate change and ecosystem dynamics. This is particularly problematic when evaluating the important role of bubbles in air-sea gas exchange, especially in remote locations where direct measurements are difficult. This project provides fundamental gas exchange measurements from the SUSTAIN wind-wave tank. These measurements are used to calculate overall gas fluxes in controlled conditions. This allows us to define physical and chemical parameters needed for more accurate models without the uncertainties inherent in field hurricane conditions. A significant outcome of this study is to greatly improve the estimates of the ecological balance between photosynthesis and respiration. Current gas exchange models are unreliable for parameterization of bubble processes, due to the difficulty of making field measurements in well-defined conditions, especially with high winds and waves. This project will advance our understanding of the effect of wind, wave, and temperature variability on gas transfer. Using a recently developed equilibrator mass spectrometer allows nearly continuous measurements of noble gas ratios and will yield gas flux data in winds from 10 to 50 m/s. Further, an underwater shadowgraph system will image bubbles, allowing us to quantify bubble size distributions, currently missing in bubble models that use a simplified, two size-class representation. This research will lead to better parameterizations of bubbles sizes, as well as improved air-sea gas exchange models for ocean and climate applications.

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Identifying, prioritizing, and validating green infrastructure approaches to enhance coastal resilience:

In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition that green, nature-based, infrastructure provided by coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, can mitigate the impacts of climatic hazards in an efficient and cost effective manner. Coral reefs are among the most diverse marine ecosystems, while acting as low-crested, submerged breakwaters reducing wave action and thus providing flood reduction benefits for coastal communities. Although significant research has been conducted on the wave-energy dissipation from coral reefs and their protection to the built environment and coastal infrastructure, direct measures of the reduction in wave energy by coral reefs are largely lacking at relevant scales. This study focuses on the use of coral reef restoration for coastal resilience purposes. In the absence of universally accepted guidelines for coral reef structures, the study is based on a series of experiments conducted in the University of Miami’s Surge Structure Atmosphere INteraction (SUSTAIN) Facility. Physical testing measuring wave dissipation by a model coral reef, built using skeletons of species grown in coral nurseries for reef restoration, under different wave and water level scenarios is under way. Preliminary results revealed that wave heights, and thus wave energy, reduce after the coral reef with the decrease being dependent on the water and wave conditions. Wave-energy dissipation is attributed to a combination of wave breaking and friction with their contribution depending on testing conditions and the reef characteristics.

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SEAHIVE–Sustainable Estuarine & Marine Revetment:

Shoreline protection has always been a vital issue for coastal communities especially in regions susceptible to damages from windstorms and coastal flooding events such as the coastal regions in the Southeastern U.S. It is thus crucial to improve the protection of the built environment and infrastructure in coastal communities from hurricane winds, waves and storm-surges through the design of more efficient and sustainable shoreline protection systems such as seawalls. Seawall structures are one of the most applicable and reliable options for reducing wave action and the impact of storm surge in coastal regions. However, existing designs often do not provide the desired level of protection especially under high tidal flow, while in many cases they significantly affect marine biodiversity. This study focuses on the design of a novel seawall structure, called SEAHIVE. The system, composed of a series of perforated hex-tube elements, is designed to allow wave-energy to dissipate within the elements increasing material efficiency and performance. Moreover, SEAHIVE elements are made of low alkalinity cement with seawater and non-corrosive reinforcement rebars avoiding corrosion and promoting sustainability. SEAHIVE design is conducted based on measurements from physical testing at the Surge STructure Atmospheric Interaction (SUSTAIN) Facility at the University of Miami. Experimental testing at SUSTAIN combined with auxiliary biocompatibility studies related with material composition and structural complexity enhance thus the design of the proposed system opening the door to the development of a whole new realm of shoreline protection structures with increased efficiency and enhanced biocompatibility features.

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