COAWST-XBeach nesting strategy validation for the Celia storm at the Barceloneta beach

Celia storm was an intense event that hit the NW Mediterranean Spanish coast during March 2022. During those dates a study was conducted where 2 instrumented platforms were installed, together with the gathering of high-resolution topobathymetric information at the Sant Sebastià and Sant Miquel beaches (Barcelona). The information taken from this campaign helped to calibrate and validate separately the hydrodynamics of the models XBeach and COAWST. A nesting strategy was done between these models in order to improve the validation of XBeach hydrodynamics. The approach is designed for a pass from a pre-operational to an operational framework in the future.

The aim of the study is to integrate both models within a reasonable computational time and good accuracy which will help to forecast possible flooding and erosion hazards and consequently create an Early Warning System in the area. The full strategy comprises atmospheric and hydrodynamic forcings from CMEMS into COAWST that feed the hydrodynamic conditions of XBeach. The simulations were done using the MPI modules of the models to reduce the computational expense and the post-processing using Python/Matlab.

Results from the validation of the models will be presented as well as the inundation and the erosion derived from the storm impact at the area. Also, some methodologies that could be applied for validate both outputs will be discussed.

Funding: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101037097 (REST-COAST project).

Acknowledgments: The first author has the support of the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia and the European Social Fund.