Major research achievements are as following：
One of the most important research achievements of the KLCDD is the innovative development and successful applications of key technologies and warning system of water disaster in coast and estuary, which won the second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award.
According to the disaster statistics by the State Oceanic Administration of China, nearly 7% of disaster loss and damage is caused by coastal disasters (Figure 3). For example, the coastal disasters including storm surge and large ocean waves result in missing and deaths of 121 people and an economic loss of exceeding CN¥16 billion in 2013. Storm surge is the heaviest cause of coastal disaster, contributing to almost 94% of the economic loss. The recent researches indicate that the tropical cyclone and storm surge may become more and more severe due to the global climate change and the resulting damages are likely increasing in the near future.
Figure 3. Tropical cyclone and storm surge disasters
The research members at the KLCDD devote themselves to this research challenge and have made some significant progresses. (1) A multi-factor coupling warning technology is proposed for the complex interactions between storm surge and astronomical tides, providing an accurate modeling method for the coastal flooding water. This largely contributes to the key technology of warning system for flooding control and defence in coastal cities. (2) A series of pioneer laboratory experiments are carried out for the comprehensive investigation of generation mechanisms of coastal disaster, clearly revealing the detailed dynamics of baroclinic flow, bifurcated flow, stratified shear flow in curve channel, buoyant jet in waves and induced mass transport. These results fill in the gaps in the mechanisms of coastal disaster with extremely complex conditions. (3) An early warning system for water disaster is developed, and it is widely used to predict a real-time progress of multi-work in coast and estuary. This warning system has been integrated into the control system of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarter, and the Hydrology Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources of China, providing fundamental data base and technical supports for the decision maker.
The research outcomes have been extensively acknowledged by the Chinese government and administration society. The “Tide Table for Flooding Defence” originally produced by the research team is currently used by 48 units for flooding defence along the coast, playing an essentially important role in predicting extreme water level and determining the defence strategies for coastal cities. One of the key contributions is to protect the human being and the whole society from the coastal disasters. For example, a total reduction from the economic loss due to coastal disasters between 2002 and 2009 is roughly CN¥0.6 billion.
