CARICOOS is proud to congratulate Dr. Patricia Chardón’s student Peter Rivera Casillas, for having successfully defended his Master’s degree thesis “Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Changes on a High-energy Microtidal Reef-Fringed Coast”. This thesis aimed to examine how recent environmental events, such as Hurricane Maria and Winter Strom Riley swell events have worsened coastal erosion in Rincon, Puerto Rico. As part of the research, he collected hydrodynamic, bathymetric, and topographic measurements immediately after hurricane Hurricane Maria. Also, a 3D numerical model (Delft3D) was implemented in order to provide information about currents, waves, sediment transport, morphological changes and more. The results from this study confirmed that the coast of RIncon can recover under long periods of low-energy wave conditions as shown in previous studies. The use of CARICOOS forecast models and real-time observations were crucial for the planning and execution of all field operations. Models like SWAN and WRF provided important boundary conditions for the numerical simulations.

We wish Peter good luck in his new journey as an engineer of the US Army Corps of Engineers.