Accurate estimation of wave energy in the nearshore environment is critical for predicting the impact of hazards such as hurricanes and tsunamis on the coastal infrastructure. Yet, operational models used for forecasting wave propagation can suffer inaccuracies in shallow waters due to oversimplified parameterization of key processes. Wave-wave, wave-vegetation, and wave-sediment interactions and their combined effect can significantly modulate waves. Here, we present results of numerical models that were developed to improve the representation of mud-induced and vegetation-induced wave dissipation in phase-resolving numerical models. It is shown that disregarding vegetation flexibility or mud elasticity can result in overestimating wave energy dissipation.

Dr. Navid Tahvildari is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Old Dominion University. Dr. Tahvildari received his Ph.D. in civil engineering with coastal and ocean engineering focus from Texas A&M University in 2011. Prior to joining ODU, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at Stanford University. His research involves analytical and computational modeling of oceanic surface and internal waves, wave processes in natural and nature-based features, and assessing the vulnerability of coastal infrastructure to storm surges via hydrodynamic modeling.

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