Long-term morphological development of the Netherlands coast : VOP Kustlijnzorg 2007

Under the VOP long-term morphology project an integrated approach was used to study a number of related subjects dealing with the long-term morphological development and data analysis along major parts of the Netherlands coast. The main interest of the project is to increase our understanding of the coast as a system on the time scale of decades to centuries. For this it is necessary to have the latest insight in the relation between processes active in the field, modelling applications an the analysis of the data. The current work was aimed at getting these relations as clear as possible. Model development using the followin two lines of approaches: a. The setup of a large-scale box model (or reservoir model) applicable to the NL coast. At first the model is set up for presentation purposes, to be developed at a later stage into a simulation model. b. The setup for o morphodynamic model for the Dutch Coast using a coarse grid model with the help of Delft3D. Further verification of hypotheses on sediment transport paths by addressing the following issues: a. Sediment budget analysis of the outer Delta area in Zeeland, b. Morphological analysis of the Western Scheldt and the Oosterschelde inlet arrears. The results are used as building blocks within the Kustlijnzorg programma by integrating system knowledge with data analysis and model development. The present integrated research has made it clear that there are gaps in our modelling capacities. Extensive recommendations are formulated.