Abstract's details
Integrating SWOT observations with numerical models for investigating water levels in the English Channel
Event: 2025 SWOT Science Team Meeting
Session: Deltas, Estuaries and Coasts
Presentation type: Oral
Several low-lying coastal and estuarine communities are facing potential threats, like water level variability and more frequent and intense extreme events, driven by climate change and the growing human activity in these areas. The effects of extreme events on coastal environments include erosion of beaches, coastal infrastructure damage, or flooding, among other impacts. Hence, substantial efforts have been devoted to better understanding the natural processes that govern hydrodynamic variability across multiple scales to produce more accurate estimation of their fluctuations and ensuring reliable coastal risk assessments.
In the context of the increasing coastal risks driven by climate change, a numerical modelling approach has been implemented at both regional and local scales from the English Channel to the Normandy coasts (López Solano et al., 2024; 2025). This approach has been explored in the framework of the SWOT mission to improve the monitoring of water levels from the open ocean to the nearshore and coastal areas by integrating in-situ measurements, SWOT products and numerical models.
In this work, comparative analyses between in-situ water level measurements and SWOT observations have been performed along the UK and Normandy coasts to assess the accuracy of estimations across different times, spatial scales and product types. Subsequently, the different water level observations were used to validate the overall numerical simulations provided by the regional modelling approach. This correlated dataset is explored for a subsequent calibration of the model covering the English Channel (Figure 1). This work provides first insights for developing a data assimilation methodology based on SWOT altimetry observations in nearshore and coastal areas.
Figure 1. Bathymetry map of English Channel with the localization of in-situ measurements in French and UK coasts. The positions of SWOT tracks are displayed
References
López Solano, C., Turki, E. I., Mendoza, E. T., Gutiérrez Barceló, Á. D., Migaud, A., Hamdi, Y., Laignel, B. & Lafite R. (2024). Hydrodynamic modelling for simulating nearshore waves and sea levels: classification of extreme events from the English Channel to the Normandy coasts. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06699-7
López Solano, C., Turki, E. I., Gutiérrez Barceló, Á. D., Selvam, H., Mendoza, E. T. Costa, S., Salameh, E., Migaud, A., & Lafite, R. (2025) Modelling of wave run–up on a macrotidal beach for assessing coastal flooding. Results in Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104379.
Back to the list of abstractIn the context of the increasing coastal risks driven by climate change, a numerical modelling approach has been implemented at both regional and local scales from the English Channel to the Normandy coasts (López Solano et al., 2024; 2025). This approach has been explored in the framework of the SWOT mission to improve the monitoring of water levels from the open ocean to the nearshore and coastal areas by integrating in-situ measurements, SWOT products and numerical models.
In this work, comparative analyses between in-situ water level measurements and SWOT observations have been performed along the UK and Normandy coasts to assess the accuracy of estimations across different times, spatial scales and product types. Subsequently, the different water level observations were used to validate the overall numerical simulations provided by the regional modelling approach. This correlated dataset is explored for a subsequent calibration of the model covering the English Channel (Figure 1). This work provides first insights for developing a data assimilation methodology based on SWOT altimetry observations in nearshore and coastal areas.
Figure 1. Bathymetry map of English Channel with the localization of in-situ measurements in French and UK coasts. The positions of SWOT tracks are displayed
References
López Solano, C., Turki, E. I., Mendoza, E. T., Gutiérrez Barceló, Á. D., Migaud, A., Hamdi, Y., Laignel, B. & Lafite R. (2024). Hydrodynamic modelling for simulating nearshore waves and sea levels: classification of extreme events from the English Channel to the Normandy coasts. Natural Hazards. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06699-7
López Solano, C., Turki, E. I., Gutiérrez Barceló, Á. D., Selvam, H., Mendoza, E. T. Costa, S., Salameh, E., Migaud, A., & Lafite, R. (2025) Modelling of wave run–up on a macrotidal beach for assessing coastal flooding. Results in Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104379.