From research to practice: IH-SET the new open software to analyze the evolution of the coastline

IHCantabria’s Coastal Engineering and Management Group has integrated its experience in modeling and analysis of coastal processes to develop an operational tool to simulate the evolution of the coastline and support coastal management in the face of risks and climate change

Within the framework of the Marine Science Commentary Plan “Thinking Azul”, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Government of Cantabria, the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria) presents and makes available to the public IH-SET (Shoreline Evolution Tools), an open and modular software for the simulation and analysis of the evolution of the coastline at different spatial and temporal scales.

“Understanding how the coastline changes is essential to manage the coast and anticipate the impacts of climate change. With IH-SET we seek to transfer this scientific knowledge to a practical tool that facilitates decision-making,” says Camilo Jaramillo, researcher at IHCantabria and project coordinator.

This tool, already available for use by the scientific community, administrations and industry professionals, integrates different morphodynamic modeling approaches in a single environment. It allows the analysis of coastal dynamics and the evaluation of coastal change scenarios considering natural processes and external pressures such as sea level rise, sediment dynamics or human interventions.

“Numerous models have been developed for decades to study the evolution of beaches, but each one usually focuses on different processes or time scales. IH-SET was created precisely to integrate these approaches into a single platform that allows them to be analyzed together,” adds Lucas de Freitas, researcher at IHCantabria and responsible for the development of the model framework and the IH-SET software architecture.

The first version of IH-SET is a software structured in three main modules, based on a sequential workflow: preprocessing, modeling and visualization. This approach allows to integrate in a single environment different shoreline evolution modeling methodologies and to ensure reproducible and comparable analyses.

The Preprocessing module harmonizes and standardizes the input data (wave, sea level and shoreline observations), defines the numerical domain based on sampling and generates a structured data set that serves as the basis for the simulations.

The Models module is the analytical core of the system and integrates different morphodynamic modeling approaches (static equilibrium, equilibrium-trending shoreline evolution models, one-line models and hybrid approaches), including calibration and evaluation tools.

The Visualization module allows you to analyze and compare results, explore scenarios and generate graphical outputs and metrics that facilitate interpretation and decision making.

“The system allows us to prepare the data, run different coastal evolution models and visualize the results within the same working environment,” explains Lucas de Freitas.

This modular flow facilitates interoperability, traceability and reproducibility of studies, allowing work at different time scales and from individual beaches to larger coastal systems.

The multidisciplinary team of IHCantabria has validated the tool through its application in different coastal environments and case studies, demonstrating its ability to reproduce the evolution of the coastline and support decision making in coastal management and coastal engineering projects.

With this initiative, IHCantabria reinforces its commitment to knowledge transfer and promotes scientific collaboration, the use by administrations and companies and its incorporation in academic and training environments. The public availability of this advanced tool will contribute to improve the planning and sustainable management of the coast, favoring a more informed coastal management based on scientific evidence.

“With IH-SET we want to make it easier for researchers, engineers and coastal managers to explore how beaches change in the past, present and future,” concludes Camilo Jaramillo.

Link to the software website: https://ihset.ihcantabria.com/

Link to technical documentation: https://ihcantabria.github.io/IHSetDocs/index.html

The IH-SET project

Shoreline evolution is a key process for planning and adaptation to risks such as erosion, sea level rise or extreme events. The IH-SET project arises to meet the need for an integrated environment that unifies models and methodologies, facilitates the reproducibility of studies and improves the capacity for analysis and prediction in scientific, technical and management contexts.