Justin S. Rogers, PhD

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   Research

-           Coastal resilience, risk, sea level rise, extreme events, compound hazards

-           Impact of climate change on human and natural systems in coastal and nearshore environments

-           Core model development for coastal applications, storm surge, tropical cyclones, flood risk, bottom boundary layers, turbulence, and multiscale physics.

 

Here are a few of my current and recent research projects…

Impacts of flooding influenced by climate change on communities Climate change is the defining global issue of our time. Sea level rise is projected to affect coastal cities and infrastructure in the coming decades, and we are already seeing these effects in the most vulnerable areas. Additionally, inland flooding from more intense rainfall events puts communities at risk. My focus is on the impacts of flooding on global communities and focusing resources on the most vulnerable areas.

 

Climate Impacts of Tropical Cyclone Induced Flooding   Tropical cyclone induced storm surge has the potential to create catastrophic flooding in many regions globally and storm intensity is expected to increase. The combination of sea level rise and increased storm surge over the coming decades will require significant scientific study to understand these effects, and effective action by stakeholders.

 

Physical / ecological coupling, climate effects on coral reefs Physical processes in the ocean such as waves, currents and temperature have a profound effect on the ecology of marine systems. With warming oceans, ecological systems will need to adapt, and we are already seeing effects of heat wave effects on coral reefs from mass bleaching events. I study how these physical processed affect the ecology to better understand how the systems function and how to protect these valuable environments.

 

Multiscale Model Nesting Large scale ocean models are quickly advancing to include tides in their solution. Because these global models are coarse resolution typically kilometer scale, smaller nested models are needed for specific study areas. We are working on methods to nest smaller models (SUNTANS) within larger global models (US Navy NCOM), with internal waves present. Applying the boundary conditions correctly is challenging with internal waves because they reflect off the model boundaries and they propagate differently in the large model vs the smaller nested model.

 

Bottom Boundary Layers in Highly Rough Environments Flow over complex terrain creates turbulence and the formation of a boundary layer. We are working on methods to connect the force resisting the flow to the complex terrain on a coral reef. We are using high resolution modeling (SUNTANS) in concert with field observations from Ofu Island, American Samoa.

 

Cross-shelf Transport by Internal Waves In many regions of the world’s oceans, internal waves are a dominate feature which create oscillatory motions in the nearshore. They often transport deep waters into this region which are typically cooler and nutrient rich. We are working on analysis to understand the processes by which these waves provide cross-shelf transport and the extent to which they can cool coral reefs and potentially provide resilient areas to climate change.

 

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