Shoreline modelling and mesh optimisation: a critical review of advances, challenges, and implications for coastal management

Shoreline models are critical for informing coastal environmental management decision-making. However, current shoreline modelling practices are uncertain, which can compromise such decisions. A key source of uncertainty in shoreline modelling stems from the mesh generation process. For coastal environmental management decision-making, we need shoreline predictions to be mesh independent. This requires a careful mesh optimisation process that ensures both mesh independence and appropriate discretisation of the coastal system. We, therefore, critically review current mesh generation practices for shoreline modelling, by examining related studies from 2019 to 2024. From this, we identify the current advances, challenges, and uncertainties in mesh generation for shoreline modelling. We discuss the wider implications of these for coastal management and identify new research pathways and a conceptual framework for optimising the mesh generation process, to better inform coastal environmental management decisions. Our review is timely, as such decisions are becoming increasingly critical, given the accelerating effects of climate change on coastal systems globally.