Sousa et al. (2025) Evaluating Distributed Hydrologic Modeling to Assess Coastal Highway Vulnerability to High Water Tables

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-08-05
• Authors: Bruno José de Oliveira Sousa, Luiz M. Morgado, José G. Vasconcelos
• DOI: 10.3390/w17152327

Research Groups

Not specified

Short Summary

This study evaluates the suitability of the GSSHA model for simulating groundwater dynamics in coastal roads in Alabama, demonstrating its effectiveness in predicting saturation during extreme precipitation events.

Objective

• To assess the suitability of the Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model for representing hydrological processes and groundwater dynamics in a unique coastal roadway setting.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: 2 km road segment in Alabama.
• Temporal Scale: Short-duration high-intensity events (specifically simulating Hurricane Sally).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA).
• Data sources: Observed groundwater level (GWL) data, refined land cover classification, and precipitation data from Hurricane Sally.

Main Results

• The model showed good agreement with observed groundwater levels, achieving Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) values up to 0.83.
• The use of a fixed groundwater tidal boundary (Mobile Bay) limited the model's ability to replicate fine-scale groundwater fluctuations compared to dynamic tidal forcing.
• Simulation of Hurricane Sally revealed that over 66% of the road segment remained saturated for more than 6 h, with some locations exceeding 48 h of pavement saturation.

Contributions

• Provides a replicable modeling framework that enables Departments of Transportation (DOTs) to identify critical roadway segments and improve drainage infrastructure to enhance coastal resiliency.

Funding

Not specified

Citation

@article{Sousa2025Evaluating,
  author = {Sousa, Bruno José de Oliveira and Morgado, Luiz M. and Vasconcelos, José G.},
  title = {Evaluating Distributed Hydrologic Modeling to Assess Coastal Highway Vulnerability to High Water Tables},
  journal = {Water},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/w17152327},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/w17152327}
}