HR Wallingford: Seabed Recovery after Dredging (UK)

At a conference on Marine and River Dune Dynamics, Michiel Knaapen presents findings on information required to develop a practical model of a dredging site, and the processes that are required to build a model.

New methods have been developed for variable flow fields, multiple grain sizes, and simplified ecological rule systems so that realistic hydrodynamic models can be used to drive cellular automata models.

Cellular automata (CA) are capable of capturing complex sandwave, ripple and dune shapes which have proven particularly difficult for conventional methods of modelling sedimentary transport to capture.

Building on earlier studies, the HR Wallingford researchers examined the potential of CA to model patterns of habitat and ecosystem recovery on the seabed after dredging.

Benthic recovery after dredging

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Press Release, April 16, 2013