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INSTRUCTORS:
Enda Murphy, Ph.D., P.Eng
Kaitlyn A. McPherran, Ph.D.
Mohsena Lopa
Francis Salcedo, PE
Course Length: 1 hour
Purpose and Background
These presentations were recorded at the International Conference on Coastal Engineering 2026.
An Open-Source Flood Risk Analysis Network for Canada: Coastal Flood Modeling at Scale (16 minutes)
This presentation introduces Canada's OpenFRAN initiative, a national effort to develop scalable and open-source flood hazard modeling tools. Participants will learn about the challenges of assessing coastal flood risk across Canada's highly diverse coastal environments, including Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, and Great Lakes regions. The session examines different coastal flood drivers such as storm surge, sea level rise, tides, waves, compound flooding, and sea ice change. Attendees will explore pilot studies used to test reduced-complexity and physics-based flood modeling approaches. The presentation highlights the importance of reproducible workflows, open-access data, and community-informed decision support systems. Engineers will gain insight into developing flood hazard products that can be applied at national scales while maintaining scientific rigor. The findings support future flood mapping, risk assessment, and resilience planning efforts.
Shoal Tracker – A Tool for Detecting Tidal Shoals from Optical Satellite Imagery (12 minutes)
This presentation introduces Shoal Tracker, a remote sensing tool designed to identify and monitor tidal shoals using optical satellite imagery. Participants will learn how image-processing techniques can be used to distinguish shallow shoals from adjacent water bodies. The session demonstrates how shoal migration, channel evolution, and navigation hazards can be monitored without relying exclusively on field surveys. Attendees will examine the use of satellite-derived water indices and automated processing workflows to track morphological change through time. The presentation highlights validation approaches using bathymetric and topographic datasets. Engineers will gain practical insight into applying remote sensing technologies to sediment management and navigation monitoring. The findings support cost-effective methods for coastal monitoring and hazard identification.
CSTMS-msbCoast Based Evaluation of the Impacts of Neptune Pass on Water Quality and Suspended Sediment Dynamics (15 minutes)
This presentation evaluates the environmental impacts of the rapidly expanding Neptune Pass distributary in the lower Mississippi River system. Participants will learn how increased freshwater diversion can alter salinity distributions, water quality, and sediment transport pathways across connected estuaries. The session presents numerical modeling of river discharge, salinity transport, temperature patterns, and suspended sediments. Attendees will examine how changes in freshwater flow affect habitats, estuarine ecosystems, and commercially important species such as oysters. The presentation explores the role of multiple sediment classes in understanding transport and deposition processes. Engineers will gain insight into the challenges of evaluating large-scale river diversions and their downstream consequences. The findings support future management decisions and restoration planning in deltaic systems.
Modeling the Fate of Sediments on Different Spatial Scales from Multiple Sources (14 minutes)
This presentation examines how multiple numerical modeling tools can be combined to evaluate sediment transport and recontamination risks within a Superfund site. Participants will learn how river inputs, stormwater outfalls, and other sediment sources contribute to deposition patterns within a contaminated basin. The session presents a multi-scale framework combining hydrodynamic, sediment transport, watershed, and CFD models. Attendees will explore methods used to estimate both suspended and bed-load sediment contributions. The presentation highlights how field measurements and monitoring programs support model calibration and validation. Engineers will gain insight into evaluating sediment fate across different spatial and temporal scales. The findings support remediation planning and long-term sediment management strategies.
Benefits and Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the challenges and methodologies associated with developing scalable coastal flood hazard models at a national level.
- Explain how optical satellite imagery can be used to detect and monitor tidal shoal evolution and navigation hazards.
- Discuss how distributary growth and freshwater diversion influence salinity, water quality, and suspended sediment dynamics in estuarine systems.
- Identify modeling approaches used to quantify sediment transport pathways and recontamination risks from multiple sediment sources.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-test assessment (true-false, multiple choice, and/or fill in the blank questions).
Who Should Attend?
- Coastal Engineer
- Civil Engineer
- Coastal Scientist
- Coastal Resilience Program Manager
- Government Coastal Zone Manager
- University Student or Researcher
How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 365 days of the course purchase.
How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?
1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]