Field measurements of onshore and longshore velocities in the surf zone have been obtained on Martinique
Beach, Nova Scotia, for the purpose of investigating the dynamics of the infragravity band (0.003-
0.03 Hz) of the spectra. A total of35 data runs were obtained during a 1-week period. Of particular interest...
The present work characterizes the time-space scales of variability and forcing dependencies of a unique 26 year record of daily to hourly shoreline data from a steep beach at Duck, North Carolina. Shoreline positions over a 1500 m alongshore span were estimated using a new algorithm called ASLIM based on...
In shallow water, any two waves of the same frequency are shown to produce complex patterns of
drift velocity above the sea bed. If the longshore components λ₁, λ₂ of the wave numbers of the two
waves are different, these steady flow patterns exhibit a longshore periodicity of wave number...
The spatial and temporal variability of nearshore sand bar morphology is quantified using a unique data set
spanning 2 years. The data consist of daily time exposure images of incident wave breaking on an open coast
sandy beach which may be used to infer bar morphology (Lippmann and Holman, 1989)....
Synchronous runup records were collected from 14 locations spaced irregularly over a 7 km stretch of
a low-slope beach. The significant runup height, herein defined as the significant vertical excursion of
water level at the shoreline, was typically 2 m, 60% of the incident significant wave height at the
breakpoint....
Optical remote sensing is used to measure flow patterns in the swash zone. Timestack images are analyzed to measure the asymmetry and the relative duration of the inflow into the swash zone. This varies significantly between individual swashes, contrary to the classical analytical swash model for runup induced by bores,...
A methodology is described for assimilating observations in a steady state twodimensional
horizontal (2‐DH) model of nearshore hydrodynamics (waves and currents),
using an ensemble‐based statistical estimator. In this application, we treat bathymetry as a
model parameter, which is subject to a specified prior uncertainty. The statistical estimator
uses state augmentation...
Swash hydrodynamics were investigated on an intermediate beach using runup data obtained from video images. Under mild, near-constant, offshore wave conditions, the presence of a sandbar and the tidally controlled water depth over its crest determined whether most of the incoming waves broke before reaching the shoreline. This forced a...
Long-term (>years) bathymetric data sets collected in six multiple near-shore sandbar systems were analyzed with complex empirical orthogonal function analysis to quantify intersite differences and similarities in cyclic offshore progressive bar behavior. The observations came from a 37-year annually sampled data set of four regions along the Dutch coast (spanning...
Bathymetry is a major factor in determining nearshore and surf zone wave transformation and
currents, yet is often poorly known. This can lead to inaccuracy in numerical model predictions. Here
bathymetry is estimated as an uncertain parameter in a data assimilation system, using the ensemble Kalman
filter (EnKF). The system...
This paper presents a comprehensive set of velocity and suspended sediment observations in the nearshore wave bottom boundary layer, collected during the Duck94 field experiment on the Outer Banks of the North Carolina coast. Cross-shore velocity measurements in the wave bottom boundary layer were made using five hot film anemometers,...
Video measurements of wave runup were collected during extreme storm conditions characterized by energetic long swells (peak period of 16.4 s and offshore height up to 6.4 m) impinging on steep foreshore beach slopes (0.05–0.08). These conditions induced highly dissipative and saturated conditions over the low-sloping surf zone while the...
Field observations of turbulence and sediment suspension in the nearshore wave bottom boundary layer obtained during the Duck94 field experiment on the North Caroline coast showed the generation of near-bed turbulence to be highly intermittent. The intermittent nature of the flow was examined by applying homogeneous isotropic turbulence laws over...
Four years of daily time exposure images from an embayed beach were examined to
study the spacing, persistence, and location preferences of rips in a natural rip channel
system. A total of 5271 rip channels was observed on 782 days. Occurrence statistics
showed no evidence of the preferred location pattern...
Because of highly dissipative conditions and strong alongshore gradients in foreshore
beach morphology, wave run-up data collected along the central Oregon coast during
February 1996 stand in contrast to run-up data currently available in the literature. During
a single data run lasting approximately 90 min, the significant vertical run-up elevation...
Runup kinematics on a gently sloping natural beach are examined with detailed measurements from video images, resistance wires deployed at five elevations (between 5 and 25 cm) above and parallel to the beach face, and pressure sensors located in the inner surf zone. As suggested in a previous study comparing...
A study of swash zone sediment transport was conducted at Gleneden
Beach, Oregon during February 25-28, 1994. The data collected included suspended
sediment concentration (SSC), sea surface elevation, and velocity (initially 4 and 8
cm above the bed) at three cross-shore locations within the swash zone spanning high
tides. Ensemble...