Sean Vitousek
Science and Products
Sediment connectivity: A framework for analyzing coastal sediment transport pathways
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). This study presents a novel application of graph theory and connectivity metrics...
Pearson, Stuart; van Prooijen, Bram C.; Elias, Edwin P.L.; Vitousek, Sean; Bing Wang, Zheng Large-scale erosion driven by intertidal eelgrass loss in an estuarine environment
Seagrasses influence local hydrodynamics by inducing drag on the flow and dampening near-bed velocities and wave energy. When seagrasses are lost, near-bed currents and wave energy can increase, which enhances bottom shear stresses, destabilizes sediment, and promotes suspension and erosion. Though seagrasses are being lost rapidly globally, the...
Walter, Ryan K.; O’Leary, Jenifer K.; Vitousek, Sean; Taherkhani, Mohsen; Geraghty, Carolyn; Kitajima, Ann Sea-level rise exponentially increases coastal flood frequency
Sea-level rise will radically redefine the coastline of the 21st century. For many coastal regions, projections of global sea-level rise by the year 2100 (e.g., 0.5–2 meters) are comparable in magnitude to today’s extreme but short-lived increases in water level due to storms. Thus, the 21st century will see significant changes to...
Taherkhani, Mohsen; Vitousek, Sean; Barnard, Patrick L.; Frazer, L Neil; Anderson, Tiffany; Fletcher, Charles Steps to develop early warning systems and future scenarios of wave-driven flooding along coral reef-lined coasts
Tropical coral reef-lined coasts are exposed to storm wave-driven flooding. In the future, flood events during storms are expected to occur more frequently and to be more severe due to sea-level rise, changes in wind and weather patterns, and the deterioration of coral reefs. Hence, disaster managers and coastal planners are in urgent need of...
Winter, Gundula; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Vitousek, Sean; van Dongeren, Ap; McCall, Robert T.; Hoeke, Ron; Skirving, William; Marra, John ; Reyns, Johan; Aucan, Jerome; Widlansky, Matthew J.; Becker, Janet; Perry, Chris; Masselink, Gerd; Lowe, Ryan; Ford, Murray; Pomeroy, Andrew; Mendez, Fernando J.; Rueda, Ana C.; Wandres, Moritz Blind testing of shoreline evolution models
Beaches around the world continuously adjust to daily and seasonal changes in wave and tide conditions, which are themselves changing over longer time-scales. Different approaches to predict multi-year shoreline evolution have been implemented; however, robust and reliable predictions of shoreline evolution are still problematic even in short-term...
Jennifer Montaño; Giovanni Coco; Jose Antolinez; Tomas Beuzen; Karin Bryan; Laura Cagigal; Bruno Castelle; Mark Davidson; Goldstein, Evan B.; Raimundo Ibaceta; Déborah Idier; Bonnie C. Ludka; Sina Masoud-Ansari; Fernando Mendez; A. Brad Murray; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Katherine Ratlif; Arthur Robinet; Ana Rueda; Nadia Sénéchal; Joshua Simmons; Kristen Splinter; Scott Stephens; Ian Townend; Vitousek, Sean; Kilian Vos A model ensemble for projecting multi‐decadal coastal cliff retreat during the 21st century
Sea cliff retreat rates are expected to accelerate with rising sea levels during the 21st century. Here we develop an approach for a multi‐model ensemble that efficiently projects time‐averaged sea cliff retreat over multi‐decadal time scales and large (>50 km) spatial scales. The ensemble consists of five simple 1‐D models adapted from the...
Limber, Patrick W.; Barnard, Patrick L.; Vitousek, Sean; Erikson, Li H. Doubling of coastal flooding frequency within decades due to sea-level rise
Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding. In most coastal regions, the amount of sea-level rise occurring over years to decades is significantly smaller than normal ocean-level fluctuations caused by tides, waves, and storm surge. However, even gradual sea-level rise can rapidly increase the...
Vitousek, Sean; Barnard, Patrick L.; Fletcher, Charles H.; Frazer, Neil; Erikson, Li H.; Storlazzi, Curt D. A nonlinear, implicit one-line model to predict long-term shoreline change
We present the formulation, validation, and application of a nonlinear, implicit one-line model to simulate long-term (decadal and longer) shoreline change. The purpose of the implicit numerical method presented here is to allow large time steps without sacrificing model stability compared to explicit approaches, and thereby improve computational...
Vitousek, Sean; Barnard, Patrick L.
National assessment of shoreline change: Historical shoreline change in the Hawaiian Islands
Sandy beaches of the United States are some of the most popular tourist and recreational destinations. Coastal property constitutes some of the most valuable real estate in the country. Beaches are an ephemeral environment between water and land with unique and fragile natural ecosystems that have evolved in equilibrium with the ever-changing...
Fletcher, Charles H.; Romine, Bradley M.; Genz, Ayesha S.; Barbee, Matthew M.; Dyer, Matthew; Anderson, Tiffany R.; Lim, S. Chyn; Vitousek, Sean; Bochicchio, Christopher; Richmond, Bruce M. Geology of Hawaii reefs
The Hawaii hot spot lies in the mantle under, or just to the south of, the Big Island of Hawaii. Two active subaerial volcanoes and one active submarine volcano reveal its productivity. Centrally located on the Pacific Plate, the hot spot is the source of the Hawaii Island Archipelago and its northern arm, the Emperor Seamount Chain (Fig. 11.1)....
Fletcher, Charles H.; Bochicchio, Christopher; Conger, Christopher L.; Engels, Mary S.; Feirstein, Eden J.; Frazer, Neil; Glenn, Craig R.; Grigg, Richard W.; Grossman, Eric E.; Harney, Jodi N.; Isoun, Ebitari; Murray-Wallace, Colin V.; Rooney, John J.; Rubin, Kenneth H.; Sherman, Clark; Vitousek, Sean Model scenarios of shoreline change at Kaanapali Beach, Maui, Hawaii: Seasonal and extreme events
Kaanapali beach is a well-defined littoral cell of carbonate sand extending 2 km south from Black Rock (a basalt headland) to Hanakao'o Point. The beach experiences dynamic seasonal shoreline change forced by longshore transport from two dominant swell regimes. In summer, south swells (Hs = 1–2 m Tp = 14–25 s) drive sand to the north, while in...
Vitousek, Sean; Fletcher, Charles H.; Merrifield, Mark A.; Pawlak, Geno; Storlazzi, Curt D.
Disappearing Beaches: Modeling Shoreline Change in Southern California
Using a newly-developed computer model called “CoSMoS-COAST” (Coastal Storm Modeling System – Coastal One-line Assimilated Simulation Tool) scientists predict that with limited human intervention, 31 to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may become completely eroded (up to existing coastal infrastructure or sea-cliffs) by the year 2100 under scenarios of sea-level rise of one to two meters.