PhD position on wave overtopping at UPPA Anglet, France
Volker Roeber
Dear colleagues,
The Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA) is seeking to fill a 3-year PhD position in the field of coastal engineering in Anglet at the Basque coast in southwest France. Please see the details below:
Deadline for applications:
July 04, 2025
PhD title
Post-overtopping impact on urbanized seafronts exposed to
extreme storm waves
Context
In the last decades, the intensive urbanization of coastal zones
has increasingly exposed seafront buildings to direct ocean wave action. This situation has led to significant
damages during repeated storm events and has raised awareness among coastal authorities about the risks
associated with severe storms. To address these new challenges, in a worsening context of rising sea
level, it is essential to develop robust methods for accurately quantifying wave impacts during extreme
storms and for assessing the efficiency of coastal defenses, both in the current situation and in the future.
Objectives
In this context, the main objective of the PhD is to further
improve and extend methods for the determination of forces exerted on seafront infrastructures by
waves overtopping a protective seawall. More specifically, the project will focus on shallow to very
shallow foreshore in sandy beaches backed by a seawall. The chosen study site is characterized by a meso-tidal
range, limited storm surges and occasionally extreme wave conditions. Furthermore, the seawall top
is occupied by many coastal facilities that can be exposed to overtopping waves, both in the current
situation or in the future due to climate change effect. Consequently, the PhD project will seek to
characterize the overtopping flow and the
subsequent mechanical impact on coastal facilities by carrying on
field measurements. This characterization will be used to assess the efficiency of the current protection
system for different storm conditions. In addition, a numerical modelling method will be developed to assess
the evolution of the overtopping processes and their effect in the future climate. This method will
rely on recent phase-resolving modelling approaches to compute nearshore wave transformation, wave runup
and overtopping.
Methodology
- Field measurements : develop and deploy a Wave Impact Pressure
(WIP) measurement station (Imbertie et al. 2022) and complementary devices to measure
hydrodynamics parameters prior to overtopping impacts
- Numerical modelling : develop approaches to compute wave impact forces based on phase resolving hydrodynamics computation as proposed by Imbertie (2024) or Gruwez et al. (2020)
- Climate scenarios : define different local scenario combining global climate projections and local wave conditions. Simulate storm impacts and assess sea defense efficiency for the different scenario.
References
Imbertie, E. (2024). Characterization of the impact of storm wave
overtopping on a vertical structure at the top of an upper-beach dike based on field measurements and
phase-resolving depth-integrated numerical modeling - https://theses.fr/2024PAUU3099
Imbertie, E., Morichon, D., Larroque, B., Delpey, M., Hernanz, B., & Lavayssiere, C. (2022). Autonomous measuring system of overtopping wave impact pressure in real field conditions. XVIIèmes Journées Nationales Génie Côtier – Génie Civil. https://doi.org/10.5150/jngcgc.2022.047
Gruwez, V., Altomare, C., Suzuki, T., Streicher, M., Cappietti,
L., Kortenhaus, A., & Troch, P. (2020). An inter-model comparison for wave interactions with sea dikes on shallow
foreshores. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8(12), 985.
Framework
The thesis will contribute to a research project supported by the
municipalities of Capbreton, Hossegor, and the MACCS inter-communality (southwest of France) as part of the
local strategy plan for coastal zone management. The research will be conducted in the framework of the
joint laboratory KOSTARISK (see below). The thesis will be carried out in close collaboration with
another PhD project conducted in the framework of KOSTARISK, which is dedicated to the development of a
numerical wave model for complex nearshore beach configurations.
About the hosting laboratory
KOSTARISK is a joint cross-border research laboratory dedicated to
observation and modelling to support coastal risk management. It brings together 3 partner organizations: the SIAME
laboratory of the Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA), the Spanish technology center AZTI, and
the monitoring and forecasting center Rivages Pro Tech (RPT) of the SUEZ group. The laboratory brings
together researchers from the three organizations in order to implement scientific and technological
cooperation in the fields of numerical modelling, physical measurement systems and advanced data
analysis, for the development of tools to support the management and mitigation of coastal risks. The
KOSTARISK team is composed of 5 permanent faculty members and 11 partner researchers (6 for RPT and 5 for AZTI).
About the employer institution
The PhD enrollment will be at Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA) and
attached to the laboratory SIAME, located in Anglet (France). UPPA is the third largest university in
southwestern France with around 12 000 students. The laboratory SIAME develops research in several fields including
a team dedicated to wave and wave- structure interaction studies. In this team, Dr. Denis
Morichon's research activity focuses on the study of nearshore wave dynamics and wave-structure interactions, combining
field observations and numerical modeling techniques.
About the PhD partner institutions
RPT is SUEZ's monitoring and forecasting center for the management
of water environments. Located in Bidart and Pessac (France), RPT develops and operates operational
oceanography solutions to support local authorities in coastal management. The services offered by RPT are
divided into two main activities: (i) Water quality & health and (ii) Waves & coastal hazards.
The PhD fellow will be conducted in connection with the Waves & Coastal Hazard department.
For more information and to apply, please contact :
Denis MORICHON (UPPA): denis.m...@univ-pau.fr
Matthias DELPEY (RPT-SUEZ) : matthia...@suez.com