FGCU Sea Grant team updates modeling of Hurricane Ian impacts, plans resilience tests for Fort Myers Beach

Florida Gulf Coast University researchers told the Marine Environmental Resource Task Force on March 12 that they have run and are finalizing validation of a coastal model that reconstructs Hurricane Ian's effects on Fort Myers Beach and will use that model to test potential resilience measures.

The update came from Christopher Daley, an assistant professor of coastal geomorphology at Florida Gulf Coast University, who described lidar and ground-penetrating radar surveys, 35 airborne lidar flights, and the use of an XBeach morphodynamic model to simulate waves, surge and sediment transport. "We're using models to predict changes that will occur along the beach during extreme events, and then also looking at...what are some of the interventions we can implement," Daley said.

Why it matters: The model is intended to show where sand was eroded, where it deposited onshore and offshore, and how built features channel surge and overwash. That information is intended to help Fort Myers Beach and partner jurisdictions evaluate whether interventions such as widening the…