Nonuniform sediment transport under non-breaking waves and currents

Empirical formulas have been developed to calculate the fractional bed-load and suspended-load transport rates and near-bed suspended-load concentration under non-breaking waves and currents for coastal applications. The formulas relate the bed-load transport rate to the grain shear stress, the suspended-load transport rate to the energy of the flow system, and the near-bed suspended-load concentration to the bed-load transport rate, velocity and layer thickness. Adequate methods are adopted to determine the bed shear stress due to coexisted waves and currents. The hiding and exposure mechanism in nonuniform bed material is considered through a correction factor that is related to the hiding and exposure probabilities and in turn the size composition of bed material. The developed formulas have been tested using a large database of single-sized sediment transport and several sets of multiple-sized sediment transport data collected from literature, and compared with several existing formulas. The developed formulas can provide reasonably good predictions for the test cases.     

Numerical study of three-dimensional suspended sediment transport in waves and currents

In the present work, a three-dimensional suspended sediment model (SED) is built. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model (COHERENS) and a third-generation wave model (SWAN) are fully coupled through accounting for mutual influences between wave and current in them. SED is combined with the coupled model built up above. Damping function of suspended sediment on turbulence is introduced into COHERENS. Then a coupled hydrodynamic–sediment model COHERENS-SED incorporating mutual influences between wave and current is obtained. COHERENS-SED is adopted to simulate three-dimensional suspended sediment transport of Yellow River Delta with wave–current co-existing. The simulated tidal current velocities and suspended sediment concentration match well with field measurement data. The simulated significant wave height and wave period for a case with current's effects can give better agreement with measurement data than a case without current's effects. Numerical simulation results of COHERENS-SED are demonstrated to be reasonable though being compared with previous studies and field measurements [Wang, H., Yang, Z.S., Li, R., Zhang, J., Chang, R., 2001. Numerical modeling of the seabed morphology of the subaqueous Yellow River Delta. International Journal of Sediment Research 16(4), 486–498; Wang, H., 2002. 3-dimensional numerical simulation on the suspended sediment transport from the Huanghe to the Sea. Ph.D. Thesis, Ocean University of China, pp. 12–14 (in Chinese)].     

利用被动示踪物模拟对黑潮入侵南海的数值研究

由于缺少观测数据和对黑潮水准确定义,很难识别出从太平洋入侵到南海的黑潮水团。本文基于一个经过观测验证的三维模式MITgcm,利用被动示踪物标记黑潮水,研究了入侵南海的黑潮水的时空变化。研究表明,在冬季,黑潮水入侵的范围最广,几乎占据了18°N-23°N和114°E-121°E的区域;并有一个分支进入台湾海峡;黑潮入侵的范围随深度增加逐渐减小。在夏季,黑潮水被限制在118°E以东,且没有分支进入台湾海峡;入侵的范围从海面到约205米是增大的,之后随深度增加逐渐减小。通过分析从2003年到2012年黑潮入侵的年际变化,与厄尔尼诺年和正常年相比,冬季黑潮入侵后向台湾海峡的分支在拉尼娜年是最弱的,这可能与中国大陆东南方向的风应力旋度有关。通过吕宋海峡的黑潮入侵通量（KIT）是西向的,其年平均值约为-3.86×10⁶ m³/s,大于吕宋海峡通量（LST,约-3.15×10⁶ m³/s）。250米以上的KIT约占了全深度通量的60-80%。此外,从2003年到2012年KIT与Niño 3.4指数的相关系数到达0.41,小于LST与Niño 3.4指数的相关系数0.78。     

长江河口波-流共同作用下的全沙数值模拟

针对长江河口地形、水文、泥沙运动等复杂的特点,建立了波-流共同作用下的二维全沙及河床演变模型.在合理计算研究区域流场等的基础上,利用切应力概念确定悬沙扩散方程中的源函数;通过系列数值试验和实测资料的统计分析,在经典的泥沙临界起动速度中引入反映河床底质结构及固结程度的局地系数;选用由流速、盐度、含沙量浓度确定的泥沙颗粒絮凝沉降速度,从而提高长江口悬沙场数值模拟精度.在底沙输运计算中,提出一种较为合理确定有关参数的方法.通过洪、枯季大、中、小潮水文、泥沙资料和典型台风引起航槽冲淤变化的实测资料验证,表明该文提出的模型能较合理地反映长江河口流场、泥沙场及地形的演变.     

Contribution of waves and currents to sediment resuspension in the Yellow River Delta

The objective of this study was to investigate that the effects of different hydrodynamic conditions on sediment resuspension on a tidal mudflat in the Yellow River Estuary. A field experiment was conducted on an intertidal flat of the Yellow River Delta, China. The sediment resuspension concentrations and hydrodynamic conditions were obtained in the field from September 2–7, 2013. The resuspended sediment concentrations induced by wave loading were compared with those induced by coupled wave–current actions in Yellow River Delta. The results were as follows: (1) when the wave height was higher than 10?cm and the shear stress induced by the waves was greater than the critical stress of the seabed sediments, the surface seabed was eroded and sediment was resuspended. In addition, 60% of the significant wave heights were larger than 10?cm on the intertidal flat of the Yellow River Delta. (2) The contribution of waves to sediment resuspension was greater than 30% when the significant wave height is higher than 10?cm, and the average contribution of waves to sediment resuspension was 51%. The mechanism of wave-induced sediment resuspension and processes of sediment resuspension were described in this paper.     

Numerical simulation of sediment lifted by waves and transported by tidal currents

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Combined numerical model of currents, waves, and sediment transport in Lake Donuzlav

We present a numerical model of the dynamics of Lake Donuzlav, which enables one to perform simultaneous numerical analyses of the currents, sea level, waves, and sediment transport. The model is based on the hydrodynamic block and the spectral wave model. For typical storm situations, we study the specific features of the integral circulation of waters and the three-dimensional structure of currents, investigate the wind-induced wave fields, and evaluate the flows of sediments and deformations of the bottom. The presence of intense eddy structures is revealed in the field of currents caused by the bottom topography. A significant intensification of waves in the south part of the lake is established in the case of penetration of storm waves through the strait. It is shown that the account of waves leads to qualitative changes in the structure of circulation in the lake and to the formation of well-pronounced areas of wave-induced elevations and lowerings of the sea level. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 2, pp. 43–65, March–April, 2006.     

The influence of wind waves and tidal currents on sediment resuspension in Middle Chesapeake Bay

Resuspension of bottom sediments by waves and tidal currents was investigated in three characteristic environments of middle Chesapeake Bay (shallow platform, deep platform, and main channel). In the shallow near shore platform wind waves frequently resuspended significant amounts of sediment, some of which was transported offshore. In both the shallow and adjacent deep platform regions, tidal currents were too weak (<20 cm cm/sec) to resuspend bottom sediments. In the main channel, peak current velocities were substantially stronger (40 cm/sec), but were still not competent to erode the bottom. The stability of the bottom in this area is related to the activities of the benthic organisms which are influenced by seasonal anoxia. University of Maryland Center for Environmental and Estuarine Studies (CEES) Contribution No. 1572.     

Models of near-bed dynamics and sediment movement at the Iberian margin

A three dimensional time-dependent baroclinic hydrodynamic model, including sediment transport and incorporating a turbulence energy sub-model, is used in cross sectional form to examine sediment movement at the shelf edge off North West Iberia at 42°40.5’N where measurements were made as part of the OMEX-II programme. These calculations are complemented by a simpler, in essence time-independent model, which is used to examine the sensitivity of the sediment distribution over the slope (from a shelf-break source) to changes in the specified values of horizontal and vertical diffusion coefficients. The philosophy of the paper is to use idealized tidal, wind and wind wave forcing to examine changes in sediment distribution resulting from these processes. Calculations with the time-dependent and steady state models give insight into both the role of events and long-term effects. The steady state model focuses on the off-shelf region, whilst the time-dependent model considers on-shelf events.Tidal calculations showed that for the stratification used here the internal tide in the OMEX region was primarily confined to the shelf edge and ocean. A mean on-shelf sediment transport in the surface layer and off-shelf transport at the bed was found. Across-shelf circulations produced by up-welling/down-welling favourable winds gave rise to on-shelf/off-shelf currents in the bottom boundary layer with an opposite flow in the surface layer. In the case of an up-welling favourable wind, sediment suspension was at a maximum in the near coastal region, with sediment being advected off shore in the surface layer. With a down-welling favourable wind, surface sediment was advected towards the shore, but there was offshore transport at the bed. Near the shelf edge any upwelling flow had the tendency to return this sediment to the surface layer from whence it was transported on-shore. So in essence the sediment was trapped within an on-shelf circulation cell. Wind waves effects increased the total bed stress and hence the sediment concentration and its transport, although its pattern was determined by tidal and wind forcing.The time independent model with increased/decreased lateral diffusivity gave an enhanced/reduced horizontal sediment distribution for a given settling velocity. As the settling velocity increases, the down-slope movement of sediment is increased, with a reduction in the thickness of the near-bed sediment layer, but with little change in its horizontal extent.     

A sheetflow sediment transport model for skewed-asymmetric waves combined with strong opposite currents

Prototype scale physical model tests were conducted to investigate the sheetflow sediment transport of uniform sand under different skewed-asymmetric oscillatory flows with and without the presence of relatively strong currents in the opposite direction against wave propagation. Experiments show that in most cases with fine sands, the “cancelling effect” which balances the on-/off-shore net transport under pure asymmetric/skewed oscillatory flows and results a moderate net transport was developed for combined skewed-asymmetric shaped oscillations. However, under certain conditions (T > 5 s) with coarse sands, the onshore sediment transport was enhanced for combined skewed-asymmetric flows. Additionally, the new experimental data under collinear oscillatory flows and strong currents show that offshore net transport rates increase with decreasing velocity skewness and acceleration skewness. Sediment movement behaviors were investigated through analysis of experimental data obtained from the image analysis technique and attempts were made to estimate and formulate the sheetflow layer thickness. Accordingly, sediment transport under oscillatory sheetflow conditions was studied and successfully explained by comparing the bed shear stress and the phase lag parameter at each half cycle. Consequently, these parameters were incorporated in an improved Dibajinia and Watanabe's type sediment transport model. The formula is calibrated against a comprehensive experimental data (331 in total). Good agreement obtained between predictions and measurements shows that the new formula is fulfilled for practical purposes.     

ASM-IV仪器在河口近底层悬沙浓度观测分析中的应用研究

近底层悬沙时空变化对于理解河口冲淤变化有着至关重要的作用。然而,长期以来河口近底层水体悬沙浓度的连续变化大都是基于单点观测数据或水样处理获取。基于此,本研究利用光学仪器边界层悬浮物剖面测量仪(Argus Surface Meter IV,ASM-IV)获得长江口南槽近底层进行连续10 d的实测数据,探讨ASM-IV仪器监测悬沙浓度精度的有效性。结果表明:(1)传统仪器布设方法所获取的数据,相对误差高于基于ASM-IV所测误差,在大、中及小潮期间的平均误差值分别为24.15%、17.31%和16.18%;越靠近底部河床,相对误差从距底52 cm向下随距底距离的减小而逐渐增大;(2)对于近底层单宽悬沙通量测量结果而言,传统测量仪器布设方法所测量数值一般偏小;(3)大潮时期近底层1 m内的水体悬沙分布均匀,分层不明显;在中、小潮时期,与近底层1 m内平均悬沙浓度相差最大的点皆位于距底20~50 cm附近。因而,近底层悬沙浓度测量时间在大潮时期或越靠近底层,利用ASM-IV监测近底层悬沙浓度值更为准确。中、小潮时期利用单点或采集水样测量时,选取0.8H层水体悬沙浓度代替近底层悬沙浓度较最底部水体悬沙浓度更为准确。     

Laboratory measurements of large-scale near-bed turbulent flow structures under spilling regular waves

The instantaneous turbulent velocity field created by the breaking of spilling regular waves on a plane slope was measured in a plane running parallel to the slope using particle image velocimetry. The measurement plane was located at a height of about 1 mm above the bed. The measurement area encompassed the region where the large eddies generated at incipient wave breaking impinged on the bottom inside the surf zone. A total of 30 trials were conducted under identical experimental conditions. In each trial, six consecutive wave cycles were recorded. The measured velocity fields were separated into a mean flow and a turbulence component by ensemble averaging. The instantaneous turbulent velocity fields were analyzed to determine the occurrence frequency, location, geometry and evolution of the large eddies, and their contributions to instantaneous shear stresses, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulence energy fluxes. The motion of single glass spheres along the bed was also investigated. The two-phase flow measurements showed that the velocity and displacement of large solid particles on a smooth bed were significantly affected by the magnitude and direction of turbulence velocities. Overall, this study has examined the kinematic and dynamic properties of large eddies impinging on the bed and the interaction of these large-scale turbulent flow structures with the mean flow. The study has also highlighted the important role of large eddies in sediment transport.     

Moored fish cage dynamics in waves and currents

Recent work in the area of open ocean aquaculture system dynamics has focused separately upon either the response of fish cages in waves or the steady drag response due to ocean currents. In reality, however, forcing on these open ocean structures is a nonlinear, multidirectional combination of both wave and current profiles. At the University of New Hampshire-operated Open Ocean Aquaculture site, data were collected from a wave measurement buoy and a downward-looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler to characterize the surface elevation and water velocity profiles during an extreme northeast storm event. In addition to waves and currents, fish cage motion response in heave, surge, and pitch was inferred from accelerometer measurements during the same storm. The environmental data sets obtained during the peak of the storm were processed, analyzed, and used as input to a dynamic finite-element model. Simulations were performed using three load case scenarios: 1) in both waves and currents; 2) in waves only; and 3) in currents only. Model motion response results in both the time and frequency domain were compared with data obtained in situ . In addition to the motion response tests, the wave and current forcing influencing the mooring line tension response was also investigated. Analysis shows that in this case, the currents do not severely influence the oscillatory motion response, but do cause the cage to tilt, layback, and sink. The wave and current interaction effect did, however, influence the anchor line loads with a portion being attributed to nonlinear effects.     

Rip currents under obliquely incident wind waves and tidal longshore currents

A field experiment on the nature of rip currents was conducted on the Dutch coast, which differs from previous rip current study sites because it is a wind-sea dominated environment with mostly obliquely incident waves and tidally-driven longshore currents. During the experiment three distinct flow patterns, obtained with GPS tracked drifter instruments, were observed: (1) a locally governed circulation cell, (2) an offshore current that is deflected shore parallel outside the surf zone and (3) a meandering longshore current. The transition from rip currents (flow patterns 1 and 2) to meandering longshore currents (flow pattern 3) occurred gradually within the tidal cycle with longshore currents prevalent at mid to high tide. Rip currents at this site appeared at depressions in the surf zone bar and typically occurred when the water level fell below NAP (equivalent to MSL), even in the presence of obliquely incident waves and tidally driven longshore currents. Hindcast simulations of the drifter experiments were performed with the numerical model XBeach and showed good agreement with field observations. The model was subsequently used to investigate the influence of tidal water level fluctuations, longshore currents and obliquely incident waves on rip currents.Rip currents were initiated when the water level dropped below a specific threshold with the magnitude of the rip current associated with the water level. The strength of the tidal current and its orientation with respect to the incident waves governed the offshore extent and orientation of the rip current. In contrast to other studies that suggest that rip currents solely occur under shore normal (or slightly oblique waves), in this study both observations and numerical model simulations indicate that rip currents can exist under large angles of wave incidence, when the rip channel is sufficiently wide and the wave height is small.     

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。     

Trapped quasi-inertial waves in shear oceanic currents

We studied trapped long quasi-inertial waves in horizontally inhomogeneous flows with low Rossby numbers. A simple heuristic derivation of two equations for the wave amplitude is presented. These equations are true for strong and weak density stratifications. A spectral problem is formulated to find the frequencies of trapped waves based on the amplitude equations. Exact solutions of the hyperbolic problem for a free hyperbolic shear layer are found. It is shown that the location of the trapping area principally depends on the stratification. If the buoyancy frequency is greater than the inertial frequency, trapping occurs in the region of anticyclonic velocity shear; if the buoyancy frequency is smaller than the inertial frequency, trapping occurs in the region of cyclonic velocity shear. Thus, in the first case, the frequencies of the trapped waves are smaller than the inertial frequency, while, in the second case, they are greater. The intense wave activity observed in the regions of oceanic fronts and jet currents can be related to the existence of trapped waves.     

Surface waves and bottom sediment response

Abstract

Field measurements of bottom oscillations and wave characteristics have been made in a study of the interaction of fine‐grained sediments and surface waves. A wave staff, pressure sensor, and accelerometer were used in East Bay, Louisiana, an area that has a fine‐grained clay bottom. The accelerometer contained three solid‐state accelerometers mounted at right angles. The instrument was placed about 0.3 m below the mudline. The results of the study indicate that bottom motions under wave action show well‐defined periodic features. The bottom sediments appear to be undergoing an elastic response to bottom pressures, such that the bottom is depressed under a surface wave crest. Under the range of bottom pressures measured, bottom displacement varied linearly with bottom pressure. Measured bottom pressures were up to 35% larger than predicted by linear wave theory. The effect of a movable bottom on wave pressure is considered. The energy lost from the surface wave to the bottom in forcing the bottom response is shown to be significant and larger than the energy lost to bottom friction.     

3D scour below pipelines under waves and combined waves and currents

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on three-dimensional local scour below a rigid pipeline subjected to wave only and combined wave and current conditions. The tests were conducted in a conventional wave flume. The major emphasis of the investigation was on the scour propagation speed (free span expansion rate) along the pipeline after local scour was initiated at a controlled location. The effects of flow ratio (steady current velocity vs. combined waves/current velocity), flow incidence angle and pipeline initial embedment depth on free span expansion rate were investigated. It was observed that the scour along the pipeline propagated at a constant rate under wave only conditions. The scour propagation rate decreased with increasing embedment depth, however, increased with the increasing Keuglegan–Carpenter (KC) number. Under combined wave and current conditions, the effect of velocity ratio on scour propagation velocity along the pipeline was quantified. Empirical relationships between the scour propagation rate (V_h) and key parameters such as the KC number and embedment depth (e/D) were established based on the testing results.     

A sampler-based technique for the study of near-bed sediment dynamics: application in the eastern English Channel

A simple technique for studying near-bed hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics is presented. The method combines the use of (1) a benthic tripod hosting a series of electromagnetic current meters, and (2) a newly developed near-bed multi-level water-sediment mixture sampler. The instrument package was deployed successfully at a shallow water station in the eastern English Channel. The currents at elevation 0.9 m above the bottom were asymmetrical, the flood current peak being slightly stronger than the ebb current peak. At elevation 0.3 m above the bottom, the ebb/flood current peak asymmetry vanished. The observed SSCs (suspended sediment concentrations) were tidally modulated, with a contrasting vertical distribution over the ebb and flood phases of the tidal current: the profile was uniform in the ebb phase whereas a stratification appeared in the flood phase. The depth dependence and time evolution of the SSCs are attributable to a combination of local resuspension and advection-dispersion of remotely suspended fine sediment by ebb currents. Suspended sediment fluxes were uniform during the ebb phase and increased with elevation above the bottom during the flood phase.