The Emerald Tutu: Floating Vegetated Canopies for Coastal Wave Attenuation

Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been broadly defined in coastal resilience as the restoration of natural environments or civil infrastructure with elements, examples ranging from marsh and new oyster beds to artificial reefs living shorelines. The multiplicity NBS types makes it difficult quantify model their effectiveness a whole flood reduction environmental co-benefits. Specific operate under variety physical ecological regimes: care about benthic environment can be modeled bed roughness while shorelines are combination emergent/submerged vegetation elements located dynamic swash zone. As such, cannot investigated monolith evaluation will intervention-specific. Here, we present an engineered called Emerald Tutu, series interlinked vegetated mats which leverage known properties combine them networked formats for rapid deployment around shoreline environments. Tutu takes inspiration canopies, but aims transport protection these canopies urban areas using wave attenuation floating network effects. Prototype units were deployed OH Hinsdale Wave Lab at Oregon State University summer 2021 test efficacy mat networks. results show effect arrangement, canopy size, unit density on attenuation. We how used design environments, discuss impact submerged dynamics what research gaps remain implementation kinds NBS.