Quantification of nearshore morphology based on video imaging

The Argus network is a series of video cameras with aerial views of beaches around the world. Intensity contrasts in time exposure images reveal areas of preferential breaking, which are closely tied to underlying bed morphology. This relationship was further investigated, including the effect of tidal elevation and wave height on the presence of wave breaking and its cross-shore position over sand bars. Computerized methods of objectively extracting shoreline and sand bar locations were developed, allowing the vast quantity of data generated by Argus to be more effectively examined. Once features were identified in the images, daily alongshore mean values were taken to create time series of shoreline and sand bar location, which were analyzed for annual cycles and cross-correlated with wave data to investigate environmental forcing and response.These data extraction techniques were applied to images from four of the Argus camera sites. A relationship between wave height and shoreline location was found in which increased wave heights resulted in more landward shoreline positions; given the short lag times over which this correlation was significant, and that the strong annual signal in wave height was not replicated in the shoreline time series, it is likely that this relationship is a result of set-up during periods of large waves. Wave height was also found to have an effect on sand bar location, whereby an increase in wave height resulted in offshore bar migration. This correlation was significant over much longer time lags than the relationship between wave height and shoreline location, and a strong annual signal was found in the location of almost all observed bars, indicating that the sand bars are migrating with changes in wave height. In the case of the site with multiple sand bars, the offshore bars responded more significantly to changes in wave height, whereas the innermost bar seemed to be shielded from incident wave energy by breaking over the other bars. A relationship was also found between a site's mean wave height and inner sand bar location; sites with the highest wave heights tended to have sand bars farther from shore than those with relatively low wave heights.     

一个理想河口中拦门沙的存在对河口羽流扩展的影响

河口羽流是河口冲淡水在陆架中扩展的主要形式, 其扩展受到诸多动力与地形因素的影响, 口门拦门沙就是其中之一。以一个理想化的河口为例, 采用区域海洋模型(regional ocean modelling system, ROMS), 研究口门拦门沙对河口羽流扩展的影响, 具体包括拦门沙对羽流的出流状态、扩展范围以及远场区沿岸流淡水输运的影响。研究结果表明, 拦门沙增加了口门处的水体分层, 减小了羽流出流速度, 增大了羽流凸出体的半径, 减小了远场区沿岸流宽度, 并进而减少了沿岸流中的淡水输送。本项研究对地形因素对河口羽流的扩展研究以及陆源物质的向海输运等均具有重要意义。     

The effect of bathymetric filtering on nearshore process model results

Nearshore wave and flow model results are shown to exhibit a strong sensitivity to the resolution of the input bathymetry. In this analysis, bathymetric resolution was varied by applying smoothing filters to high-resolution survey data to produce a number of bathymetric grid surfaces. We demonstrate that the sensitivity of model-predicted wave height and flow to variations in bathymetric resolution had different characteristics. Wave height predictions were most sensitive to resolution of cross-shore variability associated with the structure of nearshore sandbars. Flow predictions were most sensitive to the resolution of intermediate scale alongshore variability associated with the prominent sandbar rhythmicity. Flow sensitivity increased in cases where a sandbar was closer to shore and shallower. Perhaps the most surprising implication of these results is that the interpolation and smoothing of bathymetric data could be optimized differently for the wave and flow models. We show that errors between observed and modeled flow and wave heights are well predicted by comparing model simulation results using progressively filtered bathymetry to results from the highest resolution simulation. The damage done by over smoothing or inadequate sampling can therefore be estimated using model simulations. We conclude that the ability to quantify prediction errors will be useful for supporting future data assimilation efforts that require this information.     

Influence of bathymetric fluctuations on coastal storm surge

Natural events constantly alter nearshore bathymetric properties. Hurricanes particularly affect bathymetry as they pass over a body of water. To compute an accurate forecast or recreate a hurricane's effects through hindcasting techniques, an operational bathymetry data set must be known in advance. However, obtaining and maintaining current and accurate bathymetric data can be costly and difficult to manage. In this paper we examine the extent to which variations in nearshore bathymetry affect the storm surge at the coast. A common question for wave and surge modeling is, “how good is the bathymetric data?” If we can allow for a range of fluctuations in the bathymetry without significantly adjusting the results of the surge predictions, we can potentially save months of field work and millions of dollars. A one-dimensional (1D) analytical solution for waves and water level is developed for initial testing. In the 1D case we find that as long as the amplitudes of the bathymetric fluctuations are less than 60% of the original depth, the surge at the coast is within ± 10% of the surge generated on the initial bottom slope. If the fluctuation produces a hole, a deepening of the local bathymetry, within 80% of the local water depth, the coastal storm surge calculated is still within 10% of the unperturbed value computed for bottom slopes shallower than 1:20. In addition, we find there is an optimum distance offshore for each sloped profile that corresponds to a depth between 25 and 40 m, beyond which the effects of bathymetric fluctuations begin to decrease. A coupled 2D modeling system is implemented to test our hypothesis along a realistic coastline. After selecting three study sites, we vary the bathymetry at the selected locations by ± 20%. Consistent with the 1D tests, the storm surge at the shoreline varies by less than 5%.     

The use of remote sensing and linear wave theory to model local wave energy around Alphonse Atoll,Seychelles

This paper demonstrates a practical step-wise method for modelling wave energy at the landscape scale using GIS and remote sensing techniques at Alphonse Atoll, Seychelles. Inputs are a map of the benthic surface (seabed) cover, a detailed bathymetric model derived from remotely sensed Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) data and information on regional wave heights. Incident energy at the reef crest around the atoll perimeter is calculated as a function of its deepwater value with wave parameters (significant wave height and period) hindcast in the offshore zone using the WaveWatch III application developed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Energy modifications are calculated at constant intervals as waves transform over the forereef platform along a series of reef profile transects running into the atoll centre. Factors for shoaling, refraction and frictional attenuation are calculated at each interval for given changes in bathymetry and benthic coverage type and a nominal reduction in absolute energy is incorporated at the reef crest to account for wave breaking. Overall energy estimates are derived for a period of 5 years and related to spatial patterning of reef flat surface cover (sand and seagrass patches).     

Process-based modelling of a shoreface nourishment

A state-of-the-art process-based model is applied to hindcast the morphological development of a shoreface nourishment along the barrier island of Terschelling, The Netherlands. The applied morphodynamic model is Delft3D for fully three-dimensional flow and sediment transport in coastal environments. Owing to a complex geomorphological setting of the study area, the curvi-linear model includes adjacent tidal inlets and covers 40×70 km with an increasing grid size resolution towards the nourishment site in the center of the island. In 1993, a total of 2 Mm³ of sand was supplied to the nearshore bar zone off Terschelling, filling up the trough between the middle and outer bar. By spring 1994, most of the nourished sediment had been redistributed onshore and welded onto the middle bar where it remained in the following years. The morphodynamic model is applied to the prediction of this rapid nearshore profile behaviour. The calibration of the model against an extensive set of full-scale hydrodynamic data at several locations throughout the nearshore bar zone shows a good representation of the measured hydrodynamics. Morphodynamic results show a dependency on spatial scale: on the scale of precise bed level evolution with respect to bar migration and growth, model predictions are poor as the nearshore bars are predicted to flatten out. Resorting to bulk volumes integrated over larger spatial scales, the model clearly has skill in predicting the overall effects of the nourishment. The lack of phase shift between sediment transport and bathymetry is identified as the key controlling factor for the poor sandbar predictions.     

Evaluation of the physical process controlling beach changes adjacent to nearshore dredge pits

Numerical modeling of a beach nourishment project is conducted to enable a detailed evaluation of the processes associated with the effects of nearshore dredge pits on nourishment evolution and formation of erosion hot spots. A process-based numerical model, Delft3D, is used for this purpose. The analysis is based on the modification of existing bathymetry to simulate “what if” scenarios with/without the bathymetric features of interest. Borrow pits dredged about 30 years ago to provide sand for the nourishment project have a significant influence on project performance and formation of erosional hot spots. It was found that the main processes controlling beach response to these offshore bathymetric features were feedbacks between wave forces (roller force or alongshore component of the radiation stress), pressure gradients due to differentials in wave set-up/set-down and bed shear stress. Modeling results also indicated that backfilling of selected borrow sites showed a net positive effect within the beach fill limits and caused a reduction in the magnitude of hot spot erosion.     

Amplitude variations of edge waves on a shelf slowly varying in the alongshore direction

Within the framework of the linear shallow-water theory, the dynamics of edge waves over a shelf characterized by a cylindrical bottom relief is investigated under the assumption that shelf parameters vary slowly in the alongshore direction. An asymptotic theory and an energy approach are used to calculate the amplitude of the edge wave. In the analytic form, the results are obtained for shelves of three different profiles with parameters varying along the shore: an infinite linear profile, a concave exponential profile, and a stepwise profile.     

Morphodynamic response of nearshore bars to a shoreface nourishment

The autonomous nearshore bar behaviour along the barrier island of Terschelling, The Netherlands, is characterised by the presence of net seaward cyclic migrating sand bars generated near the shoreline. In 1993, a perturbation of the cyclic bar system was introduced by the implementation of a 2 Mm³ shoreface nourishment supplied to the nearshore bar zone, filling up the trough between the middle and outer bar. The morphodynamic response of the nearshore bars to the nourishment perturbation is investigated using a bathymetric data set with an alongshore extent of 12 km and sampled for 10 years. Bar behaviour is quantified in terms of bar crest position in relation to morphometric parameters such as bar depth, height, width and volume. Along with a pronounced development of a three-dimensional bar system unseen in the autonomous behaviour, the nearshore bars exhibited a 6–7 year arrest in their migrational behaviour during which bar morphology remained stable at immediate pre-nourishment morphometric values. At the subsequent onset of bar movement, bars resumed their migration at a rate predicted by autonomous behaviour in parallel development with morphometric parameters along their predicted trends. It is shown that the observed onshore transport of nourished sediment in the 6–7 year arrest results from a gradual deepening of troughs. Cross-shore sediment transport modelling is used to assess the effect of the nourishment on yearly averaged onshore (short-wave nonlinearity) and offshore (undertow) sediment transport rates. The gradual reappearance of the pre-nourishment bar-trough morphology is shown to engender a normalisation in the cross-shore distribution of sediment transport rates to pre-nourishment rates.     

Alongshore Sediment Transport Near Tidal Inlets of Chilika Lagoon; East Coast of India

ABSTRACT

Chilika, a lagoon along the east coast of India, is undergoing transformation due to frequent shoreline change near inlet(s). Shoreline change near inlet includes change in position and shape of inlet, inlet channel length, and spit growth/erosion. These variable features of lagoon inlet(s) critically depend on alongshore sediment transport (LST) and discharge (water and sediment) from the lagoon to the sea. The LST and the processes responsible for sand spit growth/erosion, considered as important attributes of inlet stability, are the subject matter of the present investigation and hence the study assumes importance. The study includes integration of observational and modeling framework. Observations include nearshore wave, bathymetry, beach profile, shoreline and sediment grain size of spits while numerical modeling includes simulation of the wave using MIKE 21 Spectral Wave model and LST simulation using LITtoral DRIFT. The results indicate that the predominant wave directions as S and SSE, which induces round the year south to north alongshore transport with significant seasonal variation in magnitude. The estimated LST closely matches with previous studies near Chilika inlet and for other locations along the Odisha coast. Besides temporal variability, the study reveals spatial variability in alongshore transport near Chilika inlet and considers it as one of the important attributes along with northward spit growth for inlet migration/closure/opening.     

Implementation and modification of a three-dimensional radiation stress formulation for surf zone and rip-current applications

Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS v 3.0), a three-dimensional numerical ocean model, was previously enhanced for shallow water applications by including wave-induced radiation stress forcing provided through coupling to wave propagation models (SWAN, REF/DIF). This enhancement made it suitable for surf zone applications as demonstrated using examples of obliquely incident waves on a planar beach and rip current formation in longshore bar trough morphology (Haas and Warner, 2009). In this contribution, we present an update to the coupled model which implements a wave roller model and also a modified method of the radiation stress term based on Mellor (2008, 2011a,b,in press) that includes a vertical distribution which better simulates non-conservative (i.e., wave breaking) processes and appears to be more appropriate for sigma coordinates in very shallow waters where wave breaking conditions dominate. The improvements of the modified model are shown through simulations of several cases that include: (a) obliquely incident spectral waves on a planar beach; (b) obliquely incident spectral waves on a natural barred beach (DUCK'94 experiment); (c) alongshore variable offshore wave forcing on a planar beach; (d) alongshore varying bathymetry with constant offshore wave forcing; and (e) nearshore barred morphology with rip-channels. Quantitative and qualitative comparisons to previous analytical, numerical, laboratory studies and field measurements show that the modified model replicates surf zone recirculation patterns (onshore drift at the surface and undertow at the bottom) more accurately than previous formulations based on radiation stress (Haas and Warner, 2009). The results of the model and test cases are further explored for identifying the forces operating in rip current development and the potential implication for sediment transport and rip channel development. Also, model analysis showed that rip current strength is higher when waves approach at angles of 5° to 10° in comparison to normally incident waves.     

The morphological response of a nearshore double sandbar system to constant wave forcing

Results of 2DH morphodynamic computations are presented to quantify the temporal evolution of the crescentic patterns emerging in a double nearshore bar system in response to constant wave boundary forcing. Sixteen different conditions varying both offshore wave height and angle of wave incidence were applied. The mean length scales of the emerging irregular crescentic patterns are linearly proportional to the local longshore velocity over the inner and outer bars. For similar longshore velocities, the length scales of the outer bar are larger than of the inner bar. This is explained by accounting for the difference in water depth above the bar crest. The variable morphological response times can be explained by including additional bathymetrical parameters. The active volume of the bar, defined by the breaker index, plays an important role in this response time. With larger active volumes the bar responds more rapidly to identical boundary conditions. Also, bars with a smaller total volume respond more quickly. This faster response is due to the steeper active volume of the bars. Different initial perturbations resulted in different locations of the emerging features, showing that their location is sensitive to the initial bathymetry. However, the range in length scales and response times due to the different perturbations was significantly smaller than those obtained for the different hydrodynamic conditions. Based on the present findings we hypothesize that morphological length scales in the field are rarely in equilibrium with the concurrent offshore wave height and angle of incidence owing to the slow response of the sandbars under constant conditions relative to the stochastic nature of natural wave forcing.     

Morphodynamic response of a two-barred beach to a shoreface nourishment

The response to a shoreface nourishment of the two-bar system at Noordwijk (the Netherlands) is analyzed based on a daily data set of time-exposure video images collected during about 6 years, complemented with topographic and bathymetric surveys. The 1.7 Mm³ nourishment, implemented as a 3 km alongshore bump seaward of the outer bar, migrated more than 300 m onshore in 4 years before losing its integrity. Furthermore, the nourishment interrupted the autonomous seaward migration of both bars for the entire duration of the study period and, allaying earlier fears, did not intensify the three-dimensional patterns in the bars, such as the crescentic plan-shape and rip channels. The nourishment did result in clear head effects on both flanks, with the bar becoming discontinuous and the flank section decaying or becoming attached to an offshore-located bar, while the section of bar landward of the nourishment became attached to a landward-located bar. This sequence of morphologies is known as bar switching. Each switching episode took almost one year to complete and can therefore not be ascribed to individual wave events. We suspect that shoreface nourishments enhance the possibility of bar switching by creating alongshore variability in the position and depth of the outer bar and in its cross-shore migration rate and direction. The Noordwijk nourishment did not influence the shoreline position as its trend did not undergo distinctive variations after 1998. Differences in the response of the Noordwijk sandbars to the shoreface nourishment compared with other Dutch nourishments are attributed to the location and size (volume per unit length) of the nourishment with respect to the sandbars and to the median grain size of the nourished material.     

The influence of sea state on formation speed of alongshore variability in surf zone sand bars

The formation time of alongshore morphological variability in surf zone sand bars has long been known to differ from one beach to the other and from one post-storm period to another. Here we investigate whether the type of sea state, i.e. distant swell waves or locally generated short period wind sea, affects the formation time of the emerging alongshore topographic variability.A numerical modeling approach is used to examine the emergence of alongshore variability under different shore-normal wave forcing. A research version of Delft3D, operating on the time-scale of wave groups, is applied to a schematised bathymetry with a single bar. The model is then used to investigate several wave scenarios, examining the impact of peak period, frequency spread and directional spread on the formation time of alongshore variability.Results show that an increase in wave period has a large effect, changing the formation time up to O (250%) in case the wave period is changed from a representative value for the Dutch coast (T_p ~ 5–6 s) to an Australian South East coast value (T_p ~ 10–12 s). In contrast, modifications in the directional and frequency spread of the wave field result only in a minor change in the formation time.Examination of hydrodynamics and potential sediment transport shows that the variations in formation time are primarily related to changes in the magnitude of the time-averaged flow conditions. Variations in the magnitude of very low frequency (f < 0.004 Hz) or infragravity (0.004 < f < 0.04 Hz) surf zone flow velocities do not affect the mean sediment transport capacity. Consequently the formation speed of patterns is primarily governed by positive feedback between mean flow and morphology, and low frequency flow fluctuations are of minor importance.These findings indicate that the development of alongshore topographic variability may be faster at swell dominated open coasts, primarily due to the occurrence of longer period swell. Also, at a given site, the arrival of a long wave period swell after a storm can accelerate the emergence of variability.     

Morphodynamics of intertidal bars on a megatidal beach, Merlimont, Northern France

The morphology, bedforms and hydrodynamics of Merlimont beach, in northern France, characterised by intertidal bars and a spring tidal range of 8.3 m, were surveyed over a 10-day experiment with variable wave conditions that included a 2-day storm with significant wave heights of up to 2.8 m. The beach exhibited two pronounced bar-trough systems located between the mean sea level and low neap tide level. Waves showed a cross-shore depth modulation, attaining maximum heights at high tide. The mean current was characterised dominantly by strong tide-induced longshore flows significantly reinforced by wind forcing during the storm, and by weaker, dominantly offshore, wave-induced flows. Vertical tidal water-level variations (tidal excursion rates) showed a bimodal distribution with a peak towards the mid-tide position and low rates near low and high water. The two bar-trough systems in the mid-tide zone remained stable in position during the experiment but showed significant local change. The absence of bar migration in spite of the relatively energetic context of this beach reflects high macro-scale bar morphological lag due to a combination of the large vertical tidal excursion rates in the mid-tide zone, the cross-shore wave structure, and the pronounced dual bar-trough system. The profile exhibited a highly variable pattern of local morphological change that showed poor correlation with wave energy levels and tidal excursion rates. Profile change reflected marked local morphodynamic feedback effects due mainly to breaks in slope associated with the bar-trough topography and with trough activity. Change was as important during low wave-energy conditions as during the storm. Strong flows in the entrenched troughs hindered cross-shore bar mobility while inducing longshore migration of medium-sized bedforms that contributed in generating short-term profile change. The large size and location of the two pronounced bars in the mid-tide zone of the beach are tentatively attributed respectively to the relatively high wave-energy levels affecting Merlimont beach, and to the cross-shore increase in wave height hinged on tidal modulation of water depths. These two large quasi-permanent bars probably originated as essentially breakpoint bars and are different from a small bar formed by swash and surf processes in the course of the experiment at the mean high water neap tide level, which is characterised by a certain degree of tidal stationarity and larger high-tide waves.     

Wave driven alongshore sediment transport and stability of the Dutch coastline

The wave-driven alongshore sediment transport is commonly supposed to smooth out the irregularities on the coastline. However, it has been shown that waves approaching the coast with a high angle with respect the shore-normal can reverse that tendency and cause the rectilinear coast to be unstable [Ashton, A., Murray, A.B., Arnault, O., 2001. Formation of coastline features by large-scale instabilities induced by high-angle waves. Nature 414, 296–300; Falqués, A., Calvete, D., 2005. Large scale dynamics of sandy coastlines. Diffusivity and instability. J. Geophys. Res. 110, doi:10.1029/2004JC002587]. The extended one-line coastline model presented in the latter paper is here applied to investigate the stability of the Dutch coast. The main aim is testing the hypothesis that the shoreline sand waves observed along this coast could be generated by such an instability. It is found that the Dutch coast has potential for instability. This is most prominent on the Holland coast, followed by the Delta coast and is very weak on the Wadden coast. Whether the instability actually occurs or not depends on the cross-shore bathymetric profile of the shoreline waves. Under the sensible assumption that the bathymetric perturbation is just a shift of the equilibrium beach profile, the Dutch coast is stable. In this case, the mean annual coastline diffusivity is evaluated and it is found to be typically about 0.010–0.015 m² s^− 1, that is, roughly smaller by a factor 2 than that predicted by the traditional one-line model. However, the Dutch coast may be unstable with respect to coastline waves with a maximum bathymetric signal at a few hundred meters from the coast. This is shown in one case where the shoals associated with the sand wave are inside the surf zone during moderate storm waves. Thus the sand waves could result from the cross-shore redistribution of the sand associated with an alongshore series of shoals and bed depressions generated by the alongshore transport in the surf zone. While the generation or not of such shoreline waves by this instability strongly depends on their profile, its propagation once they have been created is less sensitive and is well reproduced by the present model. It is explained why the propagation is to the NE along the Delta and Wadden coasts, why it is faster on the latter and why on the Holland coast there is no clear propagation direction.     

A morphological stability analysis for a long straight barred coast

A morphological stability analysis is carried out for a long straight coast with a longshore bar. The situation with oblique wave incidence and a wave-driven longshore current is considered. The flow and sediment transport are described by a numerical modelling system. The models comprise: (i) a wave model with depth refraction, shoaling and wave breaking, (ii) a depth integrated model for wave driven currents and (iii) a sediment transport model for the bed load transport and the suspended load transport in combined waves and current. The direction of the sediment transport is taken to be parallel to the depth integrated mean current velocity, neglecting the effects of a bed slope and secondary currents. An instability is found to develop around the bar crest. The instability is periodic in the alongshore direction, and tends to form rip channels and to steepen the offshore face of the bar between the rip channels. The alongshore wave length of the most unstable perturbation is determined for different combinations of the wave conditions and the geometry of the profile.     

洋浦湾南浅滩-深槽-拦门沙近40年冲淤变化分析

本文根据1965、1984、1999和2005的海图对比分析, 探讨了洋浦湾深槽、南浅滩以及口外拦门沙的冲淤变化, 得出: 1)1965—1984年之间, 南浅滩呈淤涨之势, 其西南部最大淤涨距离可达640m; 1984—1999年南浅滩出现了侵蚀, 这主要是由于洋浦湾波浪以及沿岸流的作用引起的; 1999—2005年, 靠近口门附近的南浅滩出现淤涨现象, 主要是由于洋浦湾口门附近水动力的影响作用; 但是目前整体基本上处于稳定的阶段。2)洋浦深槽段呈现出不同程度的西边坡淤涨, 东边坡侵蚀后退, 深泓断面缩窄、淤浅及东偏的趋势, 特别是剖面5的变化比较复杂,值得关注。3)口外拦门沙近几十年来呈现出不同的时空冲淤变化, 但是以淤积为主, 1965—2005年拦门沙总的淤积厚度达到1m左右, 但随着泥沙补给的减少, 这种淤积趋势也随着减少。     

Beach nourishments at Coolangatta Bay over the period 1987–2005: Impacts and lessons

Erosion of the southern Gold Coast beaches (SE Queensland, Australia) was exacerbated after the extension of the Tweed River training walls in the early 1960s. To achieve the objective of restoring and maintaining beach amenity, significant nourishment works have been undertaken in Coolangatta Bay over the past 30 years. Particularly, under the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project (TRESBP) since 1995, a number of nourishment campaigns and the implementation of a permanent sand bypass system in 2001 have resulted in significant changes of Coolangatta Bay morphology. The present case study investigates the influence of both wave climate and nourishment works on the area extending from the updrift Snapper Rocks area to downdrift Kirra Beach. SWAN spectral wave model is implemented at Coolangatta Bay area and forced by the global wave model WW3 to estimate wave forcing and the potential natural longshore drift entering in Coolangatta. Specific transects extracted from accurate bathymetric surveys are used to investigate and quantify Coolangatta Bay sedimentation for the period 1987–2005. A network of Argus video stations provides high sample rate information on the shoreline evolution. Results show that, over the past 10 years, Coolangatta Bay has infilled rapidly. Sedimentation reached up to 6 m in some areas between 1995 and 2005, with beach width increasing by 200 m at Kirra Beach. Rapid seaward shoreline migration is consistent with the intense over-pumping of sand relative to the natural potential to move sand alongshore. The nourishment strategy used during this project has successfully delivered large amounts of sand to the southern Gold Coast embayment, although it has been up to now controversial from many community perspectives. The artificial sand bypassing process proved to be much more efficient than depositing the dredged sand in the nearshore area which requires a significant period of low energy condition in order for the deposited sediment to migrate shoreward and weld to the shore. This case study confirms that, when carefully undertaken, sand bypassing is a sustainable and flexible soft engineering approach which can work in concert with natural processes.     

Quasi-three-dimensional modelling of the morphology of longshore bars

A morphological quasi-three-dimensional (Q3D) area model for barred coasts has been developed. The model combines a two-dimensional depth integrated model for wave-driven currents with a model for undertow circulation currents. The combined model makes a simultaneous simulation of the bar-forming processes associated with the undertow and the horizontal wave-driven circulation currents, which may cause instabilities of the bar and the formation of rip channels. Situations with normal and oblique wave incidence are considered. Compared to the depth integrated approach the Q3D model produces less pronounced alongshore irregularities for obliquely incident waves. For normal incident waves the Q3D model produces a crescentic bar while the depth integrated model predicts almost straight sections of the bar interrupted by rip channels. The sensitivity to variation of wave angle and beach slope is further investigated.