Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features

Abstract Coastal areas, essential for human settlement and marine biodiversity, face persistent flood hazards. Integrating vegetation with traditional coastal defense structures, such as seawalls, offers a promising solution for robust and cost-effective flood mitigation. However, optimizing hybrid...

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Main Authors: Erfan Amini, Reza Marsooli, Somayeh Moazeni, Bilal M. Ayyub
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:npj Natural Hazards
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00070-x
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author Erfan Amini
Reza Marsooli
Somayeh Moazeni
Bilal M. Ayyub
author_facet Erfan Amini
Reza Marsooli
Somayeh Moazeni
Bilal M. Ayyub
author_sort Erfan Amini
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Coastal areas, essential for human settlement and marine biodiversity, face persistent flood hazards. Integrating vegetation with traditional coastal defense structures, such as seawalls, offers a promising solution for robust and cost-effective flood mitigation. However, optimizing hybrid vegetation-seawall solutions to enhance coastal protection while addressing varying risk tolerances is a challenging task. This study develops a novel framework combining a non-hydrostatic wave model, a data-driven surrogate model, and a multi-objective optimization algorithm to optimize hybrid designs. Results demonstrate that vegetation integration significantly reduces wave impacts, enhancing seawall performance. Optimized designs reveal that higher vegetation area provides greater wave energy dissipation, while vegetation density plays a more nuanced role depending on available space and risk tolerance levels. For critical infrastructure with low-risk tolerance, designs emphasize seawall height and moderate vegetation density, whereas high-risk tolerance prioritizes larger vegetated areas with lower density. The developed framework equips decision-makers to design hybrid systems that balance coastal protection and cost-effectiveness based on their specific objectives and constraints.
format Article
id doaj-art-31fede3505424da7aa44b310331b91f2
institution DOAJ
issn 2948-2100
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
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spelling doaj-art-31fede3505424da7aa44b310331b91f22025-08-20T03:05:56ZengNature Portfolionpj Natural Hazards2948-21002025-03-012111910.1038/s44304-025-00070-xHybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized featuresErfan Amini0Reza Marsooli1Somayeh Moazeni2Bilal M. Ayyub3Department of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean Engineering, Stevens Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Civil, Environmental, and Ocean Engineering, Stevens Institute of TechnologySchool of Business, Stevens Institute of TechnologyCenter for Technology and Systems Management, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of MarylandAbstract Coastal areas, essential for human settlement and marine biodiversity, face persistent flood hazards. Integrating vegetation with traditional coastal defense structures, such as seawalls, offers a promising solution for robust and cost-effective flood mitigation. However, optimizing hybrid vegetation-seawall solutions to enhance coastal protection while addressing varying risk tolerances is a challenging task. This study develops a novel framework combining a non-hydrostatic wave model, a data-driven surrogate model, and a multi-objective optimization algorithm to optimize hybrid designs. Results demonstrate that vegetation integration significantly reduces wave impacts, enhancing seawall performance. Optimized designs reveal that higher vegetation area provides greater wave energy dissipation, while vegetation density plays a more nuanced role depending on available space and risk tolerance levels. For critical infrastructure with low-risk tolerance, designs emphasize seawall height and moderate vegetation density, whereas high-risk tolerance prioritizes larger vegetated areas with lower density. The developed framework equips decision-makers to design hybrid systems that balance coastal protection and cost-effectiveness based on their specific objectives and constraints.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00070-x
spellingShingle Erfan Amini
Reza Marsooli
Somayeh Moazeni
Bilal M. Ayyub
Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
npj Natural Hazards
title Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
title_full Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
title_fullStr Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
title_full_unstemmed Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
title_short Hybrid vegetation-seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction: analytics for cost-effective design from optimized features
title_sort hybrid vegetation seawall coastal systems for wave hazard reduction analytics for cost effective design from optimized features
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00070-x
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