New Paper Out: How Waves Move Microplastics

We’re excited to share our latest publication—a collaborative effort between the PLASTINEST and PlasticBeach projects. The paper presents an advanced modeling framework that couples the SWASH wave model with the TrackMPD particle transport model (v3), now featuring improved turbulence coupling, resuspension and settling processes, and parallel computation for faster runtimes.

Using controlled wave-flume experiments, we validated the model’s ability to reproduce the transport of floating and sinking microplastics across a full beach profile under wave forcing. Results align well with observations and highlight the role of Stokes drift and wave asymmetry in shaping transport pathways.

This work showcases the potential of the SWASH-TrackMPD approach for scaling up lab insights to real-world coastal systems.

Link to full open access paper: https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/319/2025/