R.M. Ruchira M. Jayathilaka

Name : R.M. Ruchira Jayathilaka

Contact : ruchira.jayathilaka@gmail.com

Researchgate : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruchira-Jayathilaka

Education :

  • B.Sc. (Physics) (1st class Hons.), University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka (2009)
  • Msc in Coastal Engineering and Port Development, IHE, Delft, the Netherlands (2015 )

Research interest :

  • Climate change impacts on coasts& coastal risk.
  • Numerical modeling of sediment transport & coastal morphology.
  • Coastal erosions, beach response to sea level rise & storms.
  • Wave energy, wave transformation & forecasting.

Employment History

  • Scientist,  Oceanography & Marine Sciences Division, NARA (2011 to present)
  • Assistant Lecturer, Department of Physics, University of Ruhuna (2010-2011) 

Internships

  • Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Deltares, the Netherlands (2015 Jan-Apr)
  • The DTEP/Hydronamic department, Royal Boskalis, The Netherlands (2014 Oct-Dec)            
  • General Scientific Division, Atomic Energy Authority, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2010 Jan-Mar)             

Training and workshops

  • Subsurface Mooring Training Course on Subsurface Mooring Design, Recovery and Deployment IOCAS 16-22 July 2023, Qingdao, China
  • Work shop on“Operation and maintenance of sea-level equipment and Data acquisition and processing, NARA- FIO bilateral project titled Joint Investigation on sea level and early warning system”16 – 28 January 2016,First Institute of Oceanography (FIO).
  • International Summer course 'Becoming a water leader'held at UNESCO IHE, Delft, Netherlands from 1-5 September 2014
  • International dredging seminar on dredging and reclamation, 23-27 June 2014 at Unesco IHE, Delft, Netherlands.
  • Workshop on Integrated coastal zone managementheld at Unesco IHE, Delft, Netherlands from 12-23 May 2014
  • International Port Seminar- Organizational and management aspects of ports to port planning and port engineering aspects’ held at Unesco IHE, (Field trip Belgium/France Port of Le Havre, Zeebrugge and Antwerp 4th-6th May 2014).
  • OceanTeacher Academy Training Course 'Data Management Methods for Operational OceanProducts', Organized by UNESCO/IOC project office for IODE, Oostende, Belgium from 9 - 13 September 2013.
  • Work shop on “Enhancing coastal hazard early warning and response: Survey Data Processing and DEM generation”22 July – 21 August 2013,Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System, Asian Institute of Technology Campus Pathumthani, Thailand.
  • POGO visiting professorship training program on “Coastal Dynamics: Observation and analysis of currents, internal waves and turbulence on shelves” April 02-20, Colombo, Sri Lanka conducted by NARA, Sri Lanka and University of Notre Dame ,USA.
  • Marine mammal symposium and passive acoustic training programmeconducted by CRIOMM-IOMAC, Mount Lavinia Sri Lanka (14-16 th of December 2011).

On-board Expeditions:

  • Xiang Hong 06, an oceanographic Research Vessel of SIO, China-Joint Advanced Marine and Ecological Studies (JAMES) between SIOMNR and NARA in the Bay of Bengal and the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean, January 03 -16, 2020.
  • R/V Roger Revelle, an oceanographic Research Vessel of the University of California, USA with an objective of predicting and forecasting the ocean based disasters in the Bay of Bengal, August 03 -16, 2015.

Research Publications

  • Ye, R., Zhou, F., Ma, X., Shou, L., Meng, Q., Zeng, D., ...&Jayathilaka, R.,(2023)An energetic mesoscaleanticyclonic eddy in the southern Bay of Bengal in June 2020: A case study,Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, e2022JC019188.
  • Jayathilaka, R. M. R. M., Ratnayake, N. P., Wijayaratna, T. M. N., Silva, K. B. A., &Arulananthan, K. (2023). A Review of coastal erosion mitigation measures on Sri Lanka's Western Coast, an Island Nation in the Indian Ocean: Current gaps and future directions.Ocean & Coastal Management, 242, 106653.
  • Jayathilaka, R. M. R. M., Ratnayake, N. P., Wijayaratna, T. M. N., & Silva, K. B. A. (2022). A Grain Size Threshold for Quantifying Active Sediment Input: A Case Study of MahaOya River in the Western Coast of Sri Lanka.International Symposium on Earth Resources Management & Environment (ISERME), University of Moratuwa.
  • Jayathilaka, R. M. R. M., Weerakoon, W. R. W. M. A. P., Indika, K. W., Arulananthan, K., &Kithsiri, H. M. P. (2022). Spatio-temporal variation of plastic pellets dispersion in the coastline of Sri Lanka: An assessment of pellets originated from the X-Press Pearl incident during the Southwest monsoon in 2021. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 184, 114145.
  • Jayathilaka, R.M.R.M., (2022),Variability of Grain-size distributions, beach slop and Wave action on the Sandy beaches of Western coast of Sri Lanka, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Scientific Sessions 2022. NARA. Sri Lanka.
  • A.S.D. Perera, R.M. Jayathilaka, K.W. Indika, T.B.D.T. Samaranayake, (2022)Hydrodynamics of Lankapatuna coastal lagoon in East coast of Sri Lanka, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Scientific Sessions 2022. NARA. Sri Lanka.
  • Wickramage, C. H., Wang, W.,Jayathilaka, R., &Arulananthan, K. (2021). Dynamics of counter wind current along the south Sri Lanka coast during the Southwest Monsoon. Ocean Dynamics, 1-17.
  • Jayathilaka, R.M.R.M., 2021. Modeling the coastal sediment dynamics on the Northeastern coast of Sri Lanka. National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Scientific Sessions 2020. January 21, 2021. NARA. Sri Lanka.
  • Warnasuriya, T. W. S., Jayathilaka, R. M. R. M., Gunasekara, S. S., Gunaalan, K., &. Kumara, M. P (2020). An Improved Method to Detect Shoreline Changes in Small-Scale Beaches Using Google Earth Pro. Journal of Marine Geodesy Volume 43, 2020 - Issue 6.
  • RSG Ranatunga, RMRM Jayathilaka, GP Gunasinghe and KA Dinusha, An Assessment of Wave Climate Variability Using Energy Flux Method: A Case Study in the Coastal Area of Negombo to Wadduwa, 13TH INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE (2020), General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University Ratmalana, Sri Lanka.
  • M.R.M. Jayathilaka, M.C.S. Fernando, Numerical modelling of the spatial variation of Sediment Transport using Wave Climate Schematization method, proceeding of The Journal of National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (JNSF), 2019.
  • Bandaranayake, K. H. K., Weerasekera, S. J. W. W. M. M. P., Jayathilaka, R. M. R. M., &Haputhantri, S. S. K. (2018), Monsoon and temperature effects on sword fish (Xiphiasgladius) catches in the high seas of Indian Ocean: A case study in high seas longline fishery of Sri Lanka, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • M.R.M. Jayathilakaand I. K. G. G. Lakmal, Effort to understand sea level variability in the Indian Ocean using Empirical Mode Decomposition Method, Scientific Sessions, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Sri Lanka, 2016, pp.66– 70, Sri Lanka
  • Jayathilaka R.M.R.M.,K. Arulanthan,Vocalization Patterns of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (Sousa-plumbea) in Kalpitiya lagoon, Sri Lanka, Proceeding Journal of National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, Sri Lanka Vol. 44, 2016
  • M.R.M Jayathilaka, M. Salauddin,C.A. Rey Velasco, Wave penetration modelling inside a Marina, International Journal ofAdvanced Structures and Geotechnical Engineering, ISSN 2319-5347, Vol. 04, No. 04, October 2015
  • R.M Jayathilaka, Large Scale Sediment Budgets in Data Poor Environments via Numerical Modelling A Case Study of Sri Lanka's South-West Coast, Unesco IHE MSc Thesis, WSE-HECEPD-15.07, April 2015, Delft, The Netherlands
  • M.R.M Jayathilaka, M. Salauddin,C.A. Rey Velasco, Impacts of Coastal Developments on Existing Coastal Morphology: A Case Study of Developing Marinas along the coast of Netherlands,American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, vol. 3, no. 3 (2015): 71-79. doi: 10.12691/ajcea-3-3-3.
  • Salauddin, R.M.R.M Jayathilaka, C.A. Rey Velasco, I. Popescu, Numerical Approaches in Solving 1d Flow Interactions Between Sea and Inland Water,proceeding International Conference on Advances in Civil Engineering 2014 (ICACE-2014) 26 –28 December, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • M.R.M.Jayathilaka, D. Weragodatenna, Modeling of Tsunami Inundation and Hazard Mitigation - A case study of Hambantota urban area,Scientific Sessions, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, 2013, Sri Lanka
  • M.R.M.Jayathilaka,K. Arulananthan,Hydrography of the Northern Indian Ocean,Scientific Sessions, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency, 2013, Sri Lanka
  • Jayathilaka R.M.R.M.,Jinadasa S.U.P,Wijayadeva D.A, Preliminary Study onIntraplate Earthquakes in theIndian Ocean, proceeding of4thConference on Geo Information Technology for Natural Disaster Management, 2012,Sri Lanka.
  • P. Bodhika, R.M.R.M Jayathilaka, CharlesSantiapillai, V. Sivakumaran, Decibel Level of Firecrackers and its Possible Impacton the Hearing of Marauding Elephants in Sri Lanka, International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, Vol. 2, No 4, 2013, 593 – 600
  • M.R.M. Jayathilaka,J.A.P.Bodhika and W.G.D. Dharmarathna,Preliminary Study of an Attenuation of Outdoor Sound Propagation Over the Ground Level, 8thannual science Research Symp. 2011,pp.18 University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
  • M.R.M Jayathilaka,R.M.P.J.Bandara,K.G.G.P. Karunasinghe,S.P.B.A. Senewirathna,W.V.T. Nadeeshani, Control of Wireless Swithing System for Domestics using Dual-tone Multi-Frequency Signaling, 3rd place technical session science Research Symp.2011 University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
  • M.R.M. Jayathilaka, K.K.A.S. Yapa and W.G.D. Dharmarathna,Programming of a Simple Molecular Dynamic Simulation using Open Source Software, 7th annual science Research Symp. 2010, University of Ruhuna, p. 58 (2010), Sri Lanka

Consultancy works:

  • Sediment Transport Modelling: Study on the Environmental Impacts to Marine Resources due to Lakvijaya Power Plant, 2021-2023.
  • Temperature data measurements & Numerical modelling of Thermal effluent for Impacts to Marine Resources due to Lakvijaya Power Plant, 2021
  • Coastal erosion/accretion trend Analysis: EIA of proposed recreational beach area/sea water front development project from Colpetty to Dehiwala canal outlet-reclamation phase, 2021
  • Analysis of Met-Ocean Data in relation to LNG/Oil & Gas project at Trincomalee Bay Area, Hayleys Energy Services, Sri Lanka, 2021
  • In-situ measurements of CTD profiling and Turbidity off Colombo harbor, LHI, 2021
  • Met-Ocean data report for Dikkovita harbor areas for LNG/Oil & Gas project- Hayleys Energy Services, Sri Lanka, 2020
  • Current measurement of Port City Development Project, Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, Sri Lanka, 2016-2019
  • Wave transformation (SWAN) & Sediment transport (DELFT3D): EIA for proposed Mineral sand project along the coastal stretch of Kokilai-Kokkuthoduwai, Lanka Mineral Sand Limited, 2017
  • Wave Energy, climate & coastal erosion analysis for the Desktop Study for the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS), 2017

Memberships in organizations:

  • Member - PIANC Young Professionals (Netherlands)
  • Member - International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE)
  • Member - Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS)
  • Member - Institute of Physics Sri Lanka.
  • Member - Scientists Association of NARA (SAN), Sri Lanka