This Forum provides a platform for knowledge exchange (information, education, networking), enabling the MASTS community to collaborate on Hydrodynamic Modelling Research. As models are used to simulate numerous oceanic activities, their broad range of applications require the expertise of a wide variety of disciplines.
MASTS Research Forums and Working Groups form the major scientific driving force of the MASTS community. Working Groups (WG) provide opportunities for more focused Forum and cross-Forum activities, addressing specific time-bound challenges related to established or emerging areas of marine research, policy initiatives or regulation.
The Forum has identified the need for an accessible, up-to-date overview of modelling of Scottish Coastal Waters. Even practitioners in the area can find it difficult to keep track of the broadening applications and new technological approaches. This Working Group aims to create a Story Map to establish an accessible resource.
MASTS Open Forum Sessions aim at connecting the MASTS community with its diverse Research Forums and Steering Groups. At these online sessions, Forums “open their doors” to present their members’ work, network with the community and exchange ideas on Forum objectives and activities. Volunteers or recommendations for speakers are always welcomed and should please be addressed to masts@st-andrews.ac.uk.
“Particle Tracking”
A Recording of Talk 1 of this Session is available on the MASTS YouTube Channel!
Speaker: Dr Philip Gillibrand, Oceanographer and Hydrodynamic Modeller at the Mowi Scotland Ltd Environment Team
Particle tracking models (PTMs) are powerful tools for simulating the transport and dispersion of material in the ocean. By assigning appropriate properties and characteristics to the particles, models can simulate, for example, the dispersion of dissolved chemicals, dispersal of living organisms, settling of particulate wastes and the beaching of floating plastics. Applications include oil spill response, search and rescue, academic research and coastal zone management. This presentation demonstrates the ease with which these different processes can be simulated in a PTM.
(2024)
Speaker: Soizic Garnier, Research Officer at the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University
Particle tracking models are extensively used tools for simulating the transport and dispersion of a large range of particulate material in the marine environment. With their increasing use, more user-friendly particle tracking codes have been developed and shared within the scientific community. This presentation will introduce one of them, OceanParcels and demonstrate how to set up and run a simple simulation.
(2024)
North Sea human-made, offshore structures (e.g. oil/gas platforms, offshore wind farms) provide a hard substrate habitat for benthic marine species which can spread between sites during their larval stage. Here, we aim to address how the installation of additional human-made structures, like new wind farms, or decommissioning of existing ones, like oil and gas platforms at the end of service, contribute to changes in larval connectivity. We use particle tracking model simulations to assess the ecological connectivity of benthic species in the northern North Sea during two contrasting years to highlight seasonal to annual variability. Read more here
Barton, B.I., De Dominicis, M., Woolf, D.K. et al. The impacts of human-made structures on larval connectivity in the northern North Sea. Commun Earth Environ 6, 377 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02346-6
Datasets:
The latest climate change evidence update on storms and waves has now been published by MCCIP.
This update, led by Dr Lucy Bricheno, from the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool, indicates that more very severe winter storms will cross over the UK and Ireland in the future.
The newest climate models are generally able to consistently predict storm tracks, showing an increase in large and intense wintertime storms and a greater likelihood of successive storms and compound events. High-impact and low-likelihood events, such as the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), could strengthen the storm track and winter westerly winds over the North Atlantic. The models also show that even a gradual weakening of the AMOC could lead to stronger storms and larger storm surges. However, it is important to note that there is still considerable uncertainty regarding future changes to North Atlantic storms, much of which are driven by natural variability rather than long-term climate change.
The key ‘takehome messages’ are summarised on the MCCIP storms and waves evidence review page, which also contains a link to the updated review paper.
In 2023, the Forum organised and conducted an in-person Software Carpentry Workshop for the community. Software Carpentry aims to help researchers get their work done in less time and with less pain by teaching them basic research computing skills.
This free workshop was organised and conducted by the MASTS Numerical & Experimental Hydrodynamic Modelling Forum and covered basic concepts and tools of Linux and Python, including program design, version control, data management, and task automation. Participants were encouraged to help one another and to apply what they learned to their own research problems.
The Forum created an e-Poster for this conference which is available here.
The Marine Science Coordination Committee (MSCC) and MASTS are working with ecosystem modellers across the UK to increase the impact of ecosystem models on policy development and management. Learn more about MASTS members and their work with MSCC here.
Established within the Dynamics and Properties of Marine Systems Research Theme, the MASTS Numerical and Experimental Hydrodynamic Modelling (NEHM) Forum exists to promote numerical and experimental hydrodynamic modelling within Scotland, and to provide a platform for bringing together the scientific community to address current and future research needs.
Both numerical and physical models are used to simulate estuarine, coastal and ocean-scale flows, and as such have a broad range of applications, from environmental assessment, to marine energy, to climatology. MASTS members have research expertise in these areas, which can be seen below.
Physical Oceanographer | Co-chair of the National Partnership for Ocean Prediction (NPOP) Coastal Modelling and Applications Activity Group | Chair of ScotMER physical processes receptor group science and research
Interests: I am an experienced physical oceanographer specialising in coastal-ocean hydrodynamic modelling. In my current role in the Scottish Government Marine Directorate I am science topic leads for Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) oceanography and the development of hydrodynamic models. My research primarily focuses on the possible impacts of MRE on physical oceanographic processes and the wider marine environment. I work with numerical hydrodynamic and biogeochemical models as they provide insight into complex marine physical processes and their interactions with MRE developments. I enjoy working on aquaculture, emergency response and marine conservation/spatial planning modelling applications.
Research Officer at the School of Ocean Sciences
Interests: The impact of salmon lice on salmon farms and wild salmon populations | The dispersion of shellfish larvae to support fisheries management | Hindcasting the transport of sailor casualties to aid in the identification of a World War II shipwreck for archaeological studies | Characterise marine heatwaves in future climate projections and assessing their impact on ecosystems | Reservoir modelling
Marine Engineer & Naval Architect
Interests: Marine Renewable Energy | Fluid Structure Interaction | Coastal Engineering | Wave Vegetation Interaction | Field and Laboratory Experiments
Lead of a small oceanography and environmental modelling team which provides predictive modelling of environmental effects of salmon farming in Scotland on local and regional scales.
This includes:
MASTS was founded in 2009 to be a unique collaboration between marine research organisations, government and industry.
Charity Number: SC045259
Company Number: SC485726
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