Rip current review

Rip currents are shore-normal, narrow, seaward-flowing currents that originate within surf zone, extend seaward of the breaking region (rip head), and can obtain relatively high velocities. Within the last decade, there have been a significant number of laboratory and field observations within rip current systems. An overview of rip current kinematics based on these observations and the scientific advances obtained from these efforts are synthesized. Rip current flows are partitioned into mean, infragravity, very low frequency (vorticity), and tidal contributions, and it is found that each contributes significantly to the total. Data from the laboratory and the field suggest that the rip current strength increases with increasing wave energy and decreasing water depths. The maximum mean current occurs inside the surf zone, where the maximum forcing is present owing to the dissipation of waves.     

离岸流灾害水动力学过程的数值模拟研究

离岸流是近岸流的重要组成部分,当波浪受到特殊海滩地形的影响,会形成一股沿着离岸方向运动的高速水流,能够迅速将人带离海岸,对海滨安全造成威胁。为了深入探究离岸流的形成机理及水动力学特性,本文基于二阶Stokes波浪理论,采用了更为光滑的变截面沙坝模型,通过流体体积法捕捉自由液面,对离岸流进行三维数值模拟探究。本文重点分析了离岸流产生时流场的瞬时速度、时均速度、压强等不同参量的分布规律,结果显示在沙坝和海岸线之间,有一对方向相反的水循环体系;对比不同流层离岸流的速度,了解到波浪与离岸流的耦合作用;并探究了入射波波高对离岸流强度及分布区域的影响,深化了对离岸流水动力学过程的认识。     

近岸沿岸流及污染物运动的数值模拟

基于双曲型缓坡方程和近岸浅水方程对近岸波浪斜向入射破碎所生成的沿岸流及污染物在沿岸波流作用下的运动进行了数值模拟,并对数值模拟结果进行了验证分析。数值模拟结果表明,在相近工况参数下,随着入射波高的增大,沿岸流流速和平均水面升高值均明显增大;随着岸坡坡度的增加,沿岸流流速和平均水面升高值明显增大;随着入射波浪周期的增大,平均水面升高值明显增大。在沿岸缓坡区域,由斜向入射波浪破碎所产生的沿岸流对污染物的运动起着不可忽略的影响。     

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.     

Examination of the influence of several factors on longshore current computation with random waves

Influence of various factors affecting the longshore currents induced by obliquely incident random waves is examined through numerical calculation. Seven numerical models for random wave breaking process are found to yield large differences in the wave heights in the surf zone and longshore current velocities. The turbulent eddy viscosity formulation by Larson and Kraus [Larson, M. and Kraus, N.C. (1991): Numerical model of longshore current for bar and trough beaches, J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Eng., ASCE, 117 (4), pp. 326-347.] functions almost equal to that by Battjes [Battjes, J.A. (1975): Modeling of turbulence in the surf zone, Proc. Symp. Modeling Techniques, pp. 1050–1061.], but the formulation by Longuet-Higgins [Longuet-Higgins, M.S. (1970): Longshore current generated by obliquely incident sea waves, 1 and 2, J. Geophys. Res., 75 (33), pp. 6779–6801.] produces excessive diffusion of longshore currents into the offshore zone. The generation and decay process of the surface roller is indispensable in the longshore current analysis. The random wave transformation model called PEGBIS (Parabolic Equation with Gradational Breaker Index for Spectral waves) by Goda [Goda, Y. (2004): A 2-D random wave transformation model with gradational breaker index, Coastal Engineering Journal, JSCE and World Scientific, 46 (1), pp. 1–38.] produced good agreement with several laboratory and field data of longshore currents.     

Boussinesq modelling of transient rip currents

The flow on a plane beach with a random, directionally spread wave field was simulated with a Boussinesq model. The random wave spectra were directionally symmetric with their central direction perpendicular to the beach, so no constant longshore current was generated. Variable wave-averaged currents were generated because of the spatially variable wave field, and sometimes formed offshore directed rip currents that appear in variable longshore locations. The rip currents are associated with a vortex pair which is generated within the surfzone and subsequently propagates offshore. Analysis of the vorticity balance show that the main vorticity input occurs within the inner surfzone. Three different beach slopes and four different wave spectra are simulated. The frequency, duration, and intensity of the transient rips depend on both the beach slope and the incident wave spectra. The results have important engineering implications for the transport of material in the nearshore zone, in particular on longshore uniform beaches.     

Numerical study of pollutant movement in waves and wave-induced long-shore currents in surf zone

Water waves, wave-induced long-shore currents and movement of pollutants in waves and currents have been numerically studied based on the hyperbolic mild-slope equation, the shallow water equation , as well as the pollutant movement equation, and the numerical results have also been validated by experimental data. It is shown that the long-shore current velocity and wave set-up increase with the increasing incident wave amplitude and slope steepness of the shore plane ; the wave set-up increases with the in- creasing incident wave period;and the pollutant morement proceeds more quiekly with the increasing incident wave amplitude and slope steepness of the shore palane. In surf zones, the long-shore currents induced by the inclined incident waves have effectively affected the pollutant movement.     

广东省14个海滩裂流类型及统计特征分析

裂流是沿海地区频发的一种高速离岸流。根据Castelle的裂流分类模型对广东省14个海滩的Google Earth影像进行了解译分类,对裂流分类模型在遥感影像中的应用进行了探讨。结果表明:在高风险月份,海滩裂流的组成较为单一,混合型裂流少,水深控制的裂流占据主导地位,裂流数量总体维持在较高水平;在中风险月份,水动力控制的裂流和混合型裂流的比例增加,水深控制的裂流仍然占有一定比例;在低风险月份,裂流很少出现,甚至无裂流发生。裂流的类型与海滩的状态密切相关。对于海湾中的海滩,海湾长度影响裂流的数量,海湾凹入度影响不同类型裂流的组成比例。考虑到实验条件的限制,这一规律需要后续结合实际地形地貌进行更细致和深入的研究和验证。按照本文解译标准得出的分类结果,与前人提出的裂流风险性评价模型吻合度较高,进一步说明了该解译标准的有效性,为今后对海滩裂流的研究和分类工作提供了一定的参考。     

Magnitude and cross-shore distribution of bed return flow measured on natural beaches

Field measurements of cross-shore currents 0.25 m from the bed were made on two natural beaches under a range of incident wave conditions. The results indicated the presence of a relatively strong, offshore-directed mean current, both within and seaward of the surf zone. Typical velocities within the surf zone were of the order of 0.2–0.3 m/s. This bed return flow, or “undertow”, represents a mass conservation response, returning water seaward that was initially transported onshore in the upper water column, primarily above the trough of the incident waves. The measurements demonstrated that the bed return flow velocity increases with the incident wave height. In addition, the crossshore distribution of the bed return flow is characterised by a mid-surf zone maximum, which exhibits a strong decrease in velocity towards the shoreline and a more gradual decay in the offshore direction. Several bed return flow models based on mass continuity were formulated to predict the cross-shore distribution of the bed return flow under an irregular wave field and were compared with the field data. Best agreement was obtained using shallow water linear wave theory, after including the mass transport associated with unbroken waves. The contribution of the unbroken waves enables net offshore-directed bottom currents to persist outside the region of breaking waves, providing a mechanism, other than rip currents, to transport sediment offshore beyond the surf zone.     

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.     

Effects of nonlinear inertial forces on nearshore currents

A perturbation method is developed to investigate the effects of nonlinear inertial forces on breaking-wave-induced nearshore currents. Obliquely incident waves are considered and the bottom topography varies periodically in the shoreline direction. For simplicity, lateral turbulent mixing is ignored. Numerical examples are given for a specified bottom topography with various angles of incidence and surf zone width. The nearshore currents of interest mainly belong to the meandering type. When the nonlinear terms are included, there appears an advective shift as well as an amplitude reduction in the current pattern.     

Quasi-3D modelling of nearshore currents

Existing concepts of wave-induced nearshore current models, in the cross-shore vertical plane (2DV) and depth-integrated (2DH), are combined to a quasi-3D mathematical model. This combination is tested for reproducing correct results in 2DV and 2DH situations. The importance of the various contributions to the wave-induced secondary circulation in the vertical plane is investigated for realistic parameter ranges, which leads to the conclusion that both the non-breaking and the breaking fraction of a random wave field in the surf zone generate important secondary currents.Additional computations show the relevance of a 3D-approach of nearshore currents, even in seemingly simple situations like a plane sloping beach with obliquely incident waves.     

江苏海岸中部近岸冬季潮汐和潮流特征

南黄海西侧的江苏海岸近岸区域,素以地形复杂、潮流强劲、悬沙输运剧烈著称,但是较长期的同步潮位和潮流观测数据仍然缺乏,尤其是在近岸(20 km)浅水(20 m)区域。2014年1月在大丰港附近开展了连续潮位和潮流观测,获得的数据揭示了一系列特征。此地潮汐潮流为正规半日潮,浅水分潮显著。平均潮差为3.05 m,最显著的两个分潮为M2和S2分潮,振幅分别为1.45 m和0.52 m。潮流最显著的半日分潮M2分潮和最显著的浅水分潮M4分潮在沿岸方向上振幅分别为0.84m/s和0.12m/s,在跨岸方向上振幅分别为0.24 m/s和0.01 m/s,沿岸方向占绝对优势。潮波的沿岸传播介于前进波和驻波之间,驻波的特征稍强。M2分潮潮流椭圆最大流(长轴)方向为南偏东7.4°。存在冬季沿岸向北的余流,垂向平均值的大小为2.2 cm/s。以上潮汐潮流特征为该区域海洋物质输运研究提供了基础资料。     

A wave-resolving model for nearshore suspended sediment transport

This paper presents a wave-resolving sediment transport model, which is capable of simulating sediment suspension in the field-scale surf zone. The surf zone hydrodynamics is modeled by the non-hydrostatic model NHWAVE (Ma et al., 2012). The turbulent flow and suspended sediment are simulated in a coupled manner. Three effects of suspended sediment on turbulent flow field are considered: (1) baroclinic forcing effect; (2) turbulence damping effect and (3) bottom boundary layer effect. Through the validation with the laboratory measurements of suspended sediment under nonbreaking skewed waves and surfzone breaking waves, we demonstrate that the model can reasonably predict wave-averaged sediment profiles. The model is then utilized to simulate a rip current field experiment (RCEX) and nearshore suspended sediment transport. The offshore sediment transport by rip currents is captured by the model. The effects of suspended sediment on self-suspension are also investigated. The turbulence damping and bottom boundary layer effects are significant on sediment suspension. The suspended sediment creates a stably stratified water column, damping fluid turbulence and reducing turbulent diffusivity. The suspension of sediment also produces a stably stratified bottom boundary layer. Thus, the drag coefficient and bottom shear stress are reduced, causing less sediment pickup from the bottom. The cross-shore suspended sediment flux is analyzed as well. The mean Eulerian suspended sediment flux is shoreward outside the surf zone, while it is seaward in the surf zone.     

An experimental study of the spatial structures of the instabilities of longshore currents on plane beaches

A laboratory experiment on alongshore currents is conducted for two plane beaches with slopes 1:40 and 1:100 to investigate the instability of alongshore currents.The dye release experiment is also performed synchronously in surf zone.Complicated and strongly unstable motions of alongshore currents are observed in the experiment.To examine the spatial and temporal variations of the shear instabilities of longshore clearly,dye batches are released in surf zone.The deformation of the dye patch is observed efficiently and effectively with charge coupled device(CCD) system.Some essential characteristics of the shear instability are validated from the results of image analyses of the temporal variation of the dye patch.The influences of alongshore currents,Stokes drift,large-scale vorticity and the shear instabilities on the transport of dye are analyzed using the collected images.The spatial structure of the instabilities of longshore currents is studied by analyzing collected images of the dye patch.And the phase velocity of the meandering movements is obtained through measuring the movement distances of the oscillations of dye patch in alongshore direction with time.The results suggest that the propagation speed of the shear instability is approximately 50%-75% of maximum of mean alongshore currents for irregular and regular waves.The calculated propagation speed using a linear instability analysis theory is compared with the experimental results.The comparison shows agreements between them.     

华南休闲海滩沙坝触发的裂流风险及特征研究

为应对频发的致命性海滩溺水事故,自然资源部开展了我国首次滨海旅游区裂流灾害技术调查,在华南地区发现大量滨海休闲海滩存在浅滩沙坝和裂流现象。作为全国调查的部分成果,本文应用多种方法研究了广东省3个热门海滩沙坝触发的裂流机理、特征和演变规律。地形动力计算和卫星影像显示了沙坝形态、岸线形状以及裂流的高度动态性,尤其在青澳湾裂流呈现非常规的反季节变化,冬季风险较高而夏季风险较低。在相位解析水动力数值模拟中,裂流表现出对沙坝形态、浪高、浪向的高度敏感性。沙坝间较宽间隙会产生尺寸较大的裂流区,但比起窄沟槽不一定伴随更强的流速。当大部分水流集中从邻近的较宽通道回流入海时,部分窄沟槽几乎没有裂流产生。裂流流速与浪高成正比与入射角成反比。数值模拟结果表明,当入射角达到10°～30°时,沿岸流会取代离岸流占主导地位。现场调查也验证了在低潮时,较浅的水深会放大水流和波浪的地形效应,导致裂流风险加剧。本文研究结果可为滨海旅游区裂流灾害的工程减缓措施和公共警示提供有益参考。未来将会持续开展针对特定岸线的长期观测,以为裂流预警报和风险管控积累足够的统计数据。     

Numerical study of wave and longshore current interaction

Wave and longshore current interaction was examined based on the numerical models.In these models,water waves in the presence of longshore currents were modeled by parabolic mild slope equation,and wave breaking induced longshore currents were modeled by shallow water equation.Water wave provided the radiation stress gradients to drive current.Wave and longshore current interactions were considered by cycling the wave and longshore current models to a steady state.The experiments for regular and irregular breaking wave induced longshore currents by Hamilton and Ebersole（2001） and Reniers and Battjes（1997） were simulated.The numerical results indicate that the present models are effective for simulating the interaction of wave and breaking wave induced longshore currents,and the numerically simulated longshore current at wave breaking point considering wave and longshore current interaction show some disagreement with those neglecting the wave-current interaction,and the breaking wave induced longshore current effect on wave transformation is not obvious.     

沿岸流中混合系数的实验研究

进行了在规则波作用下破波带内水平混合系数测量的物理模型实验。通过在沿岸流流场中投放墨水点源和采用CCD摄像机摄像,测量了点源扩散过程。利用水深平均二维扩散方程近似解析解得到了由实验结果计算混合系数的方法。实验结果表明:扩散系数仅依赖于当地水深,与波浪参数(周期和波高)无关。沿岸流沿水深变化产生的离散作用导致顺流方向(纵向)混合系数远大于横流方向(横向)混合系数。横流方向混合系数中由波浪产生的扩散系数占总扩散系数约40%,其余为波浪破碎引起的湍流产生的扩散系数。     

Numerical Simulation of the Three-Dimensional Wave-Induced Currents on Unstructured Grid

By coupling the three-dimensional hydrodynamic model with the wave model, numerical simulations of the three-dimensional wave-induced current are carried out in this study. The wave model is based on the numerical solution of the modified wave action equation and eikonal equation, which can describe the wave refraction and diffraction. The hydrodynamic model is driven by the wave-induced radiation stresses and affected by the wave turbulence. The numerical implementation of the module has used the finite-volume schemes on unstructured grid, which provides great flexibility for modeling the waves and currents in the complex actual nearshore, and ensures the conservation of energy propagation. The applicability of the proposed model is evaluated in calculating the cases of wave set-up, longshore currents, undertow on a sloping beach, rip currents and meandering longshore currents on a tri-cuspate beach. The results indicate that it is necessary to introduce the depth-dependent radiation stresses into the numerical simulation of wave-induced currents, and comparisons show that the present model makes better prediction on the wave procedure as well as both horizontal and vertical structures in the wave-induced current field.     

Tide-induced flow signature in rip currents on a meso-macrotidal beach

On rip-channelled beaches, intense rip currents are driven by waves due to alongshore variations in breaking-induced wave energy dissipation. This study addresses for the first time the potential development of tidal currents superimposed onto the wave-driven circulation. This phenomenon is observed on a rip-channelled meso-macrotidal beach (Biscarrosse, SW France). Field measurements show 20 to 45% stronger mean rip velocities during ebb than during flood. Numerical experiments reveal that this asymmetry is the signature of tidal currents developing over the rip channel morphology. This asymmetry is found to increase roughly linearly with increasing tidal range. These results are significant to beach safety and lifeguarding and stimulate further numerical exercises.