Constantinos Matsoukis

I am a NERC DTP funded student jointly at the University of Liverpool, School of Environmental Sciences and at the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool. I am investigating the effect of sea level rise and climate change on the dynamics of river deltas. River deltas are large and complex morphological formations that develop following the discharge of sediments into the sea. Deltaic deposits are highly fertile, leading river deltas to be desirable sites to perform rural and agricultural activities. Worldwide, half a billion people are currently dependant on this type of ecosystems. The fragile physical and ecological balance of river deltas may be jeopardised by climate change and sea level rise in the near future. More particular, I am interested for changes in salinity fields and the evolution of the fresh water plume depending on the riverine-flow. My goal is to identify correlations between the salinity field and morphological parameters of river deltas such as channels geometry and bifurcation order. In order to accomplish this, I do idealized numerical modelling using DELFT3D –which is a software developed by Deltares in the Netherlands. I try to identify a parametrization useful to describe the salinity field as a function of deltas geometry. Results of the idealized cases will be tested for real system configurations.

I hold a degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and a first class honours MSc in Maritime Engineering from the University of Liverpool.