HEXECO: Improved forecasting of the impact on the littoral of hurricanes and powerful storms
THEME 5: ENVIRONMENTAL AND COSTAL MANAGEMENT
Hurricanes and powerful storms principally result in the formation of exceptional waves accompanied by a significant run-up, a rise in the littoral sea level (a positive surge) and the inundation of emergent zones. The damage to human life and property may be considerable. The hydrodynamic modelling currently available for such extreme events and their consequences is inadequate. Given that half the world’s population lives along a 200-km wide coastal strip and that between now and 2025 that proportion will rise to 75%, representing a total of around 6.3 billion people, the big challenge is to improve prediction of such events and their consequences.
The HEXECO project, which stands for Hydrodynamique EXtrême du largE à la COte (Extreme Hydrodynamics from Open Ocean to Coast), aims to develop forecasting models which take account of the specific parameters relating to the open ocean and the coastal and littoral zones. This research, which brings together the bodies in France directly involved in improving understanding of extreme hydrodynamic coastal events, will comprise major modelling and simulation work coupled with experimental monitoring, measuring and validation.
Recognised jointly by the Pôle Mer Bretagne and Pôle PACA, HEXECO has secured funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) as one of the approved projects from its Programme Blanc (open research programme).
The HEXECO project, which stands for Hydrodynamique EXtrême du largE à la COte (Extreme Hydrodynamics from Open Ocean to Coast), aims to develop forecasting models which take account of the specific parameters relating to the open ocean and the coastal and littoral zones. This research, which brings together the bodies in France directly involved in improving understanding of extreme hydrodynamic coastal events, will comprise major modelling and simulation work coupled with experimental monitoring, measuring and validation.
Recognised jointly by the Pôle Mer Bretagne and Pôle PACA, HEXECO has secured funding from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency) as one of the approved projects from its Programme Blanc (open research programme).
HEXECO PROJECTS PARTNERS:
- Ecole Centrale Marseille, Laboratoire de Recherche et Développement (Marseille Advanced Engineering Institute Research and Development Lab), project director,
- Ecole Centrale Marseille, Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors-Equilibre (Institute for Research into Unbalanced Phenomena),
- Ecole Normale Supérieure, Cachan, Centre de Mathématiques et de Leurs Applications (Advanced Institute in Cachan, Centre for Mathematics and Applied Mathematics),
- Ecole Centrale Nantes, Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides (Nantes Advanced Engineering Institute Fluid Mechanics Lab)
- Ifremer, Brest, Centre ERS d'Archivage et de Traitement (Ifremer Space Data Archiving and Processing Centre)
- Centre National de la Recherche Météorologique/Meteo-France (National Meteorology Research Centre/French Met Office), Toulouse,
- SHOM, Brest, Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine (Naval Hydrography and Oceanography Service)
Contacts:
