My interests lie in two primary areas: cohesive sediment transport and water wave mechanics. I recently developed the VIMS Sea Carousel for in situ experiments to identify the critical bed shear stress for sediment resuspension. We are also working on developing methods to measure the bulk density profile on the micro scale level. The studies will help resolve the erosion rate problem and provide input date on the simulation of sediment transport.

Research on water wave mechanics includes wave refraction, diffraction, reflection, breaking, and associated sediment transport processes. Our work involves numerical simulation as well as field measurements to address shoreline response problems.

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Current Projects

• Contaminant and sediment transport in the York River System.
• Shore erosion research and technical analysis program.
• Modeling water wave transformation for harbor planning.
• Acoustic characterization of marine sediments.

• Maa, J. P.-Y., L. Sanford, and J. P. Halka. 1996. Sediment Erosion Rates in the Baltimore Harbor. Proceedings of the North American Water and Environment, Congress `96, June 22-26, Anaheim, CA, (in CD-ROM).
• Maa, J. P.-Y., C.-H. Lee, F.J. Chen. 1995. VIMS Sea Carousel: Bed Shear Stress Measurements. Marine Geology, 129 (1/2), 129-136.
• Maa, J. P.-Y., and W-C. Wang. 1995. Wave transformation near Virginia coast: The 1991 Halloween Northeaster. J. Coastal Research. 11(4):1258-1271.