ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��

I want to know how much sand is blown from the beach into the dunes, and when that happens

Predicting dune growth and erosion

“Beaches and dunes form a natural sea defence, but  our focus on storm waves and coastal safety has turned the once highly dynamic dunes into sand dykes with strongly reduced biodiversity.. Because these sand dykes prohibit the coastal region to grow with rising sea levels, in the long term they may actually endanger us.

Natural dunes are able to grow as they are fed by sand blown from the beach.. For this reason the sand dykes have been opened at certain locations along the Dutch coast, to see what happens when the wind and the sand are allowed to take their natural course. The return of natural dynamics will also restore dune ecosystems.  

I want to know how much sand is blown from the beach into the dunes and when that happens exactly, so that we can create a reliable predictive model that takes account of both waves and wind.”

Gerben Ruessink is Professor of Wave-dominated coastal morphodynamics at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. In 2014 he was awarded a prestigious NWO Vici Innovational Research Incentives Scheme grant.