As sea levels continue to rise and storms increase in number and power, coastal erosion is an ever-growing problem for coastal countries. This includes the Netherlands, which has around a third of its land below sea level.

The Dutch have embraced numerous techniques to keep water at bay, but their dune systems are the primary defense against the sea. Understanding how resilient these systems are to coastal erosion is essential, which is why the Dutch government "uses dune erosion models as the basis of their management," Dr Jantien Rutten, a post-doctoral researcher at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), explains.

There are, however, some uncertainties in the models, most notably surrounding a type of wave known as an infragravity wave. With the aid of a large instrument pool, including Nortek Signature1000 acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) and Vector velocimeters, Rutten and her colleagues at the RealDune/REFLEX project are unpacking how infragravity waves erode these sandy protectors.

Read the full story at Eco Magazine.

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