Matias, A., Masselink, G., Kroon, A., Blenkinsopp, C., and Turner, I.L., 2013. Overwash experiment on a sandy barrierThis paper uses results obtained from the large-scale BARDEX II experiment undertaken in the Delta flume to investigate the morphological response of a prototype sandy barrier to wave and tidal forcing during overwash conditions. Since overwash processes are known to control short-term barrier dynamics and long-term barrier migration, the development of a robust quantitative method to define the critical conditions leading to barrier overwash is important both for scientific and practical management purposes. The Overwash Potential (OP), defined as the difference between the wave runup and the barrier elevation is used to define the overwash threshold condition, and to predict the morphological outcome of a particular overwash event. When OP is negative, wave runup is lower than the barrier crest and insignificant morphological changes are noticed at the barrier crest. When OP is positive, overwash occurs because predicted runup elevation is higher than the barrier crest. When OP is close to zero, overtop is expected with limited intrusion of water across the top of the barrier crest. To make effective use of OP it is necessary to identify a reliable runup predictor. Twelve runup equations were tested for this purpose, and the results were compared with the ones obtained using data from BARDEX experiment on a gravel barrier. A most reliable approach for the determination of OP for sandy barrier was similar to gravel barrier overwash experiments, with runup predictions provided by the equation of Stockdon et al. [Stockdon, H.F., Holman, R.A., Howd, P.A.,Sallenger, A.H., 2006. Empirical parameterization of setup, swash, and runup. Coast. Eng., 53, 573–588]. This is striking, since different runup predictors would have been expected because beach slope, hydraulic conductivity, grain-size, amongst other factors, differ for both types of barriers. Nevertheless, the two main morphologic characteristics for the computation of OP are beach slope and the barrier crest elevation, both accounted for in the proposed equation. The use of OP values provides a practical means by which to identify potential coastal hazards associated with barrier overwash processes and is considered to have a range of practical coastal management applications.
Almeida, L.P., Masselink, G., Russell, P.E., Davidson, M.A., Poate, T.G., McCall, R.T., Blenkinsopp, C.E. and Turner, I.L. 2013. Observations of the swash zone on a gravel beach during a storm using a laser-scannerThe collection of detailed field measurements from the swash zone during storms is an extremely challenging task which is difficult to execute with traditional in-situ deployments (e.g., scaffold rigs with instruments). The levels of difficulty increase for gravel beaches where the wave energy reaches the beach face with almost no loss of energy, leading to violent plunging wave breaking on the beach face that can produce large vertical morphological changes and extremely strong uprushes that can easily and rapidly damage, bury or detach instrumentation. Remote-sensing techniques emerge as the most appropriate solution to perform field measurements under such adverse conditions since they have the ability to perform measurements without being deployed in-situ. A mid-range (~ 50 m) Laser-scanner mounted on a tower (~ 7 m high) in the mid beach face of a gravel beach (Loe Bar - SW England) was used to measure bed-level changes and runup at a sampling rate of 2 Hz along one beach profile during a storm. The results from the comparison of this system with other state-of-the-art instruments (e.g., ultrasonic bed level sensors, GPS and video cameras) indicate that the quality of the measurements obtained is within the accuracy of the standard methods. The advantages of this system is the reduced logistical infrastructure required for the deployment, the capability to perform surveys with high spatial and vertical resolution, during day and night, and to reach areas of the swash zone where no other instrument can be deployed safely. Measurements performed with a laser-scanner on a gravel beach (Loe Bar) show complex and fast-changing morphology on the gravel beach, which appears to be a form of negative morphodynamic feedback to controls the hydrodynamic evolution in the swash zone.
This paper presents an investigation into the use of a 2-dimensional laser scanner (LiDAR) to obtain measurements of wave processes in the inner surf and swash zones of a microtidal beach (Rousty, Camargue, France). The bed is extracted at the wave-by-wave timescale using a variance threshold method on the time series. Individual wave properties were then retrieved from a local extrema analysis. Finally, individual and averaged wave celerities are obtained using a crest-tracking method and cross-correlation technique, respectively, and compared with common wave celerity predictors. Very good agreement was found between the individual wave properties and the wave spectrum analysis, showing the great potential of the scanner to be used in the surf and swash zone for studies of nearshore waves at the wave-by-wave timescale.
A field experiment was conducted on a sandy beach with a low tide terrace (Nha Trang, Vietnam) to investigate the swash zone hydro-and morphodynamics throughout different tide and wave conditions.A 2D Lidar was used to measure runup properties and bed level changes on the swash zone.An energetic monsoon wave event provided energetic conditions during the initial stage of this experiment while mild wave conditions were observed during the remaining days.Swash dynamics were clearly modulated by wave and tide conditions.Preliminary results indicate that wave climate is linked with extreme runup and beach erosion and recovery processes while tide level seems to affect swash spectral signature (dominated by infragravity band during low tide and incident band during high tide) and linked with asymmetrical morphological response of the swash.
Pressure on the coastline is escalating due to the impacts of climate change, this is leading to a rise in sea-levels and intensifying storminess. Consequently, many regions of the coast are at increased risk of erosion and flooding. Therefore coastal protection schemes will increase in cost and scale. In response there is a growing use of nature-based coastal protection which aim to be sustainable, effective and adaptable. An example of a nature-based solution is a dynamic cobble berm revetment: a berm constructed from cobble and other gravel sediments at the high tide wave runup limit. These structures limit wave excursion protecting the hinterland from inundation, stabilise the upper beach and adapt to changes in water level. Recent experiments and field applications have shown the suitability of these structures for coastal protection, however many of the processes and design considerations are poorly understood. This study directly compares two prototype scale laboratory experiments which tested dynamic cobble berm revetments constructed with approximately the same geometry but differing gravel characteristics; well-sorted rounded gravel (DynaRev1) and poorly-sorted angular gravel (DynaRev2). In both cases the structures were tested using identical wave forcing including incrementally increasing water level and erosive wave conditions. The results presented in this paper demonstrate that both designs responded to changing water level and wave conditions by approaching a dynamically stable state, where individual gravel is mobilised under wave action but the geometry remains approximately constant. Further, both structures acted to reduce swash excursions compared to a pure sand beach. However, their morphological behaviour is response to wave action varied considerably. Once overtopping of the designed crest occurred, the poorly-sorted revetment developed a peaked crest which grew in elevation as the water level or wave height increased, further limited overtopping. By comparison, the well-sorted revetment was characterised by a larger volume of submerged gravel and a lower elevation flat crest which responded less well to changes in conditions. This occurred due to two processes: (1) for the poorly-sorted case, gravel sorting processes moved small to medium gravel material (D50<70mm) to the crest and (2) the angular nature of the poorly-sorted gravel material promoted increased interlocking. Both of these processes led to a gravel matrix that is more resistant to wave action and gravitational effects. Both revetments experienced some sinking due to sand erosion beneath the front slope. The rate of sinking for the well-sorted case was larger and continued throughout due to the large pore spaces within the gravel matrix. For the poorly sorted revetment in DynaRev2, sand erosion ceased after approximately 28 h due to the development of a filter layer of small gravel at the sand-gravel interface reducing porosity at this location, hence a larger volume of sand was preserved beneath the structure. Both designs present a low-cost and effective solution for protecting sandy coastlines but from an engineering viewpoint it appears better to avoid well-sorted gravel material and greater gravel angularity has been seen to increase crest stability.
Almar, R.; Almeida, P.; Blenkinsopp, C., and Catalan, P., 2016. Surf-swash interactions on a low-tide terraced beach. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 348-352. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Through an integrated approach, this paper investigates the role of coupled surf-swash dynamics on outgoing waves using data collected at a low-tide terraced beach, Grand Popo, Benin (Gulf of Guinea, West Africa). Observed reflection is 8 %. Analyses are conducted from deep water directional wave spectra measurements, daily beach surveys and remote video measurements. Our results show that the swash can be a non-negligible component of the nearshore energy balance (14% of total dissipation) and is closely tied to reflection. Reflection thus depends on waves at swash inception (offshore waves and surf zone saturation), and shoreface slope varying with tide and morphological evolution. An outgoing cut-off frequency (shortest reflected waves) can be linked to swash saturation with a strong dependence on shoreface slope. A phase-resolving Boussinesq model was validated and used to investigate the influence of terrace width, upper shoreface slope and tidal elevation over the terrace. This papers puts forward the role of the coupled system surf-swash and underlines potential key interactions between a rapid shoreface evolution and surf zone hydro-morphodynamics.
Knowledge of the two-phase flow generated by breaking waves is desirable if we are to fully understand their effect on environmental processes such as air-sea gas exchange and production of sea-salt aerosol. However, due to the difficulties in making measurements in the high void fraction bubble plumes generated immediately after breaking, little detailed information is available. This paper describes laboratory measurements of the size of bubbles entrained in the dense plumes generated by wave breaking made using a pair of highly sensitive optical fiber phase detection probes. The results compare well with those of previous authors in the low void fraction parts of the flow, and go on to include data from within the highly aerated region present in the period shortly after breaking, close to the area of most active air entrainment. The data highlights the spatial and temporal evolution of the bubble sizes within breaker generated bubble plumes and demonstrates that some large air cavities with diameters of tens of millimeters are initially entrained. It is observed that the bubbles resident within the plume rapidly decrease in size with time and distance away from the point of primary entrainment as the large cavities initially entrained are broken up into smaller bubbles.
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