MORHOC'H 2 - Modeling the interaction of the swell and an inhomogeneous current in the coastal zone

PI Contact : Julien Touboul - MIO

Project duration : January 31, 2021 - January 31, 2024

This research project is a follow-up to the ANR ASTRID MORHOC’H project, which focused on studying processes that have a significant impact on wave propagation in the presence of a vertically sheared current. Indeed, it is not uncommon to encounter such currents in coastal areas, since the combined effects of wind and bathymetry can profoundly modify their vertical profile. However, the modelling, both physical and numerical, of such areas is a strategic challenge, both in the civilian field (coastal security, renewable marine energy, etc.) and in the military field (landing, rescue, naval applications).

Two outcomes, resulting from the project, are the focus of our attention here. Thus, the MORHOC'H project has enabled us to develop a particularly robust experimental device aimed at experimentally controlling the vertical structure of a hydrodynamic channel current. In addition, a new model has been developed, named CMS, to extend the scope of wave propagation models with resolved phase to take into consideration configurations involving high current vorticity.

The MORHOC'H 2 project therefore aims to increase the degree of maturity of these two results, in order to bring them closer to use in real conditions. First, the current profile control device will be extended to larger configurations and will become applicable in three-dimensional basins. Many industrial actors, operators of hydrodynamic test tanks, will then have access to it. In addition, the CMS propagation model will be coupled with the Community coastal hydrodynamic circulation code CROCO, developed by SHOM, IRD, CNRS, IFREMER, and INRIA, in order to make it usable under realistic conditions. Thus, the improvements resulting from the initial project will become accessible to realistic environments. The two approaches in coastal modelling, physical and numerical, will thus become more efficient and will be able to describe more realistic situations.