Coastal Urban ResilienceEngineering and Science

With such a large percentage of the world’s population now at risk, those who engage in solving critical problems within the built environment must now focus on feasible, imminent actions to positively influence societal responses and support community resilience.

Stevens’ Davidson Laboratory innovates the science serving this growing global urban population, applying its expertise in coastal ocean physics and forecasting to problems that affect the 20 million residents of the New York metropolitan area. Davidson Lab experts created and maintain the New York Harbor Observing and Prediction System (NYHOPS), a vital forecasting resource for emergency preparedness. Its experts also create novel infrastructure and coastline rebuilding solutions, and assess the effectiveness of urban shore protection initiatives, beach erosion mitigation plans and zoning laws to prepare for future natural disasters.

Map showing the flood levels in Hoboken and downtown Jersey City and the depth of water over-ground at 21:24 EDT on Oct 29, 2012, at the peak of Hurricane Sandy. (“Street Scale Modeling of Storm Surge Inundation along the New Jersey Hudson River Waterfront,” Blumberg, A., N. Georgas, L. Yin, T. Herrington and P. Orton, J. Atmos and Ocean Tech, 32, 8, 1486-1497, 2015)

CURES - A RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Never before have researchers been faced with a more urgent need to prepare coastal communities for extreme weather events that produce intense storm surges, conditions that lead to powerful surface waves, monsoon rains and ever-increasing sea levels. These catastrophic events affect not only U.S. citizens, but also the 136 port cities around the world that have more than one million inhabitants, a total population of 400 million.

Resilience Research in the Davidson Laboratory at Stevens Institute of Technology

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(CURES)

Hurricane Sandy resulted in devastating destruction in the NY/NJ metro area. The CURES team’s modeling was highlighted in NYC’s 2013 flood mitigation plan, showing that if the wind-blown storm surge had occurred 7-10 hours earlier—when the tide was high for all waterways in the region—the consequences would have been even more catastrophic, including inundation of the region’s central food distribution port facilities.*

What would have happened if Hurricane Sandy hit the NY/NJarea at a different time?

Water Depth

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CURES is a research and education initiative dedicated to the proposition that coastal cities can increase their resilience to extreme environmental conditions, while simultaneously improving their quality of life.

CURES leverages the complex computational modeling, urban ocean forecasting and flood adaptation expertise of CURES leader Dr. Alan Blumberg, a renowned expert in the field of ocean physics—and his colleagues—who have expertise in coastal engineering, fluid dynamics, urban hydrology, risk assessment and coastal storms.

Activities undertaken by the CURES team will respond to fundamental questions that address the role of engineering, science and technology as being integral to planning and managing resilient cities for the 21st century, communicating potential dangers in an effort to keep communities safe.

Support the CURES InitiativeResearch at the Davidson Laboratory is currently funded,

in part, by prominent agencies and organizations, such as:

Port Authority of NY-NJ (PANYNJ) • NJ Transit

National Park Service • NJ Department of Transportation

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOOA)

NJ Department of Environmental Protection

Develop land-flooding forecasts that predict flood areas and include the amount of flooding that can be expected, and when the flooding will occur. 4,000 groups around the world already use the ocean models developed by Dr. Alan Blumberg and his colleagues.

Assist communities and property owners, both public and private, in their resiliency preparation efforts by performing assessments of potential flood risks to recommend green and grey solutions (i.e., bioswales, wetlands, oyster reefs, detection ponds; concrete or steel structures) Those most at risk are the world’s poor, because they settle in and build on the least expensive land, which is prone to flooding, storms and landslides.

CURES will:

The mission of CURES is to answer the question: How do we improve our ability to anticipate, detect, understand,predict and respond to extreme natural events?

Dr. Alan BlumbergStevens Institute of TechnologyDavidson Laboratory

Visit the Davidson Laboratory website at:stevens.edu/research-entrepreneurship/research-centers-labs/davidson-laboratory Be sure to like our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/davidsonlaboratory

*(“The Impact of Tidal Phase on Hurricane Sandy's Flooding Around New York City and Long Island Sound”, Georgas, N., P. Orton, A. Blumberg, L. Cohen, D. Zarrilli, and L. Yin , Journal of Extreme Events, DOI: 10.1142/S2345737614500067, 2014)

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Hoboken, NJ 07030(201) 216-5289ablumberg@stevens.edu

Rebuild By Design: Blue DunesThe Davidson Lab has innovated several regional flood adaptation approaches involving landscape creation or restoration, including this Rebuild By Design finalist project that proposed creating an offshore barrier island chain centered on the New York Bight called “Blue Dunes”—blue indicating their position in the open ocean and dunes for the natural landforms they mimic.

For more information, please visit: http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/project/wxywest-8-final-proposal/

stevens.edu/davidson-laboratory-CURES

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