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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PI name & contact details:
School:
Professor Michael Hartnett
Dept Civil Engineering
National University of Ireland, Galway
Galway
Ireland
College of Engineering and Informatics
Has project been agreed with head (or
nominee) of proposed registration school?
YES
Research Centre / group affiliation:
Research group / centre website:
Ryan Institute (Environment, Marine & Energy)
Modelling and Informatics
http://www.ryaninstitute.ie/
PI website / link to CV:
http://www.nuigalway.ie/civileng/Staff/mikehartnett.html
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
Dr. Hartnett is the Research Director of the Marine Modelling Centre. Activities within the centre include: deep
ocean water circulation modelling; estuarine and coastal circulation modelling; urban flood modelling; water
quality modelling; biological modelling; heavy metal modelling; wave climate modelling; data assimilation
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Urban flood modelling
Urban flooding has also been an issue for coastal cities, and the coastal population have always
traded a desirable place to live with risk of flooding.
Two trends are exacerbating this risk: firstly, worldwide, more people want to live along the coast and
there is substantial net migration from interiors to the coast; secondly, climate change impacts are
leading to increasing mean sea levels and to increased storminess.
Within our research group we have developed a system of one-way nesting of coastal models. The
models consists of 2-dimensional hydrodynamic models to predict coastal flooding sue to tides, river
inflows and storm surges. Due to the nesting procedures it is possible to nest from large ocean scale
(grid size c 20km) down to 2m resolution within urban areas. We now wish to develop this system
into a two-way nested model. This will allow all relevant hydrodynamic processes influence at both
large scale and small scale. It is also desirable to include hydraulic structures (such as bridges, weir,
culvert etc) in the urban area into these models. It is also desirable to extend the models to include
unit hydrograph analysis to incorporate rainfall-runoff events on the cathcments.
Such models are necessary to allow proper control of water discharging from dams upstream of
large cities during times of large rain events and storm surges.
These fortran-based models will be developed within user friendly environments for visualisation
(such as google earth).
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
The Ryan Institute has a number of unique selling points in relation to marine modelling:
We have a unique tidal basin and associated equipment for scale modelling
Ryan Institute operates a coastal radar system which allows us to undertake extensive model
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
validation and develop data assimilation techniques
We have developed a very good relationship with IBM Research Ireland and are being funded by
them.
We have very good experience in operational modelling and running code on high performance
computers.
We are currently a partner in 2 EU marine related projects and have extensive collaborations with
groups across Europe.
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Civil Engineering ; Applied Mathematics
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
X
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): _ _Y___
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): ___N__
Suitable for either/Don’t know: _____