Research Assistant
Harris Hydraulics Lab, Room 203
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, WA, 98195-2700
rfloresa@uw.edu
My research is, broadly speaking, on sediment transport processes in the coastal environment. Narrowing it down, I’m currently focusing on understanding the mechanisms that lead to the exchange of sediment between the nearshore and the inner shelf along the Dutch coast. Tidal currents and the distribution of sediment in the southern North Sea are strongly influenced by vertical and horizontal stratification patterns resulting from the freshwater input from the Rhine river.
I started off my education in Chile (very nice place, you should go!) where I obtained a degree in Civil Engineering and a M.Sc. in nearshore dynamics, working on the remote sensing of breaking wave dissipation with applications to wave height transformation and cross-shore momentum balances. After graduation, I taught Hydraulics and Hydrology for 2 years before deciding to come to the University of Washington.
I arrived at UW in the fall of 2014 and I have been working under the supervision of Alex Horner-Devine since then. In September-October 2014, I participated in a large scientific field campaign called STRAINS (Stratification Impacts on Nearshore Sediment Transport), which focused on the role of turbulent processes and stratification on sediment transport near the Sand Engine, a mega-noursishment beach project, and their implications along the Dutch coast. These measurements (density, temperature, suspended sediment concentrations, currents, turbulence, seabed properties) constitute the core of my Ph.D. work.
Publications
Flores, R.P., Catalán, P.A. and Haller, M.C., 2016. Estimating surfzone wave transformation and wave setup from remote sensing data. Coastal Engineering, 114, pp.244-252.
, , , , and (2017), The impact of storms and stratification on sediment transport in the Rhine region of freshwater influence, J. Geophys. Res. Oceans, 122, 4456–4477, doi:10.1002/2016JC012362.
, , , , , , , and (2017), Cross-shore transport of nearshore sediment by river plume frontal pumping, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 6343–6351, doi:10.1002/2017GL073378.