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Sediment Connectivity: A Framework for Analyzing Coastal Sediment Transport Pathways
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  • Stuart Grant Pearson,
  • Bram van Prooijen,
  • Edwin Elias,
  • Sean Vitousek,
  • Zheng Bing Wang
Stuart Grant Pearson
Delft University of Technology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Bram van Prooijen
Delft University of Technology
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Edwin Elias
Deltares
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Sean Vitousek
U.S. Geological Survey
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Zheng Bing Wang
Deltares
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Abstract

Connectivity provides a framework for analyzing coastal sediment transport pathways, building on conceptual advances in graph theory from other scientific disciplines. Connectivity schematizes sediment pathways as a directed graph (i.e., a set of nodes and links). Existing techniques in graph theory and network analysis provide a low barrier to entry for using connectivity to quantify complex coastal systems, exemplified here using Ameland Inlet in the Netherlands. We divide the study site into geomorphic cells (i.e., nodes), and then quantify sediment transport between these cells (i.e., links) using a numerical model. The system of cells and fluxes between them are then schematized in a network described by an adjacency matrix. Network metrics like link density, asymmetry, and modularity quantify system-wide connectivity. The degree, strength, and centrality of individual nodes identify key locations and pathways through the system. These metrics allow us to address fundamental questions about sediment bypassing of Ameland Inlet and the optimal placement of sand nourishments. Connectivity thus provides a novel and valuable technique for predicting the response of our coasts to climate change and the human adaptations it provokes.
Oct 2020Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface volume 125 issue 10. 10.1029/2020JF005595