A.J.H.M. Reniers | Geology Reports

USGS2020

Simulating wave runup on an intermediate–reflective beach using a wave-resolving and a wave-averaged version of XBeach

The prediction of wave runup, as well as its components, time-averaged setup and the time-varying swash, is a key element of coastal storm hazard assessments, as wave runup controls the transitions between morphodynamic response types such as dune erosion and overwash, and the potential for flooding by wave overtopping. While theoretically able to simulate the dominant low-frequency swash, previous studies using the infragravity-wave–resolving model XBeach (XBSB) have shown an underestimation of the observed swash variance and wave runup, which was in part related to the absence of incident-band swash motions in the model. Here, we use an incident-band wave-resolving, non-hydrostatic version of the XBeach model (XBNH) to simulate wave runup observed during the SandyDuck '97 experiment on an intermediate–reflective sandy beach. The results show that the XBNH model describes wave runup and the individual setup and swash components well. We subsequently examine differences in wave runup prediction between the XBSB and XBNH models and find that the XBNH model is a better predictor of wave runup than XBSB for this beach, which is due to better predictions of both the incident-band and infragravity-band swash. For a range of beach states from reflective to dissipative it is shown that incident-band swash is underestimated by XBSB relative to XBNH, in particular for reflective conditions. Infragravity-band swash is shown to be lower in XBSB than XBNH for most conditions, including dissipative conditions for which the mean difference is 16% of the deep water wave height. The difference in infragravity-band swash in XBNH relative to XBSB is shown to mainly be the result of processes occurring outside the swash zone, but approximately 15% of the difference is caused by explicitly resolving incident-band wave motions within the swash zone, such as swash-swash interactions, which inherently cannot be simulated by wave-averaged models.

Coastal Engineering↗

USGS2010

Two-dimensional time dependent hurricane overwash and erosion modeling at Santa Rosa Island

A 2DH numerical, model which is capable of computing nearshore circulation and morphodynamics, including dune erosion, breaching and overwash, is used to simulate overwash caused by Hurricane Ivan (2004) on a barrier island. The model is forced using parametric wave and surge time series based on field data and large-scale numerical model results. The model predicted beach face and dune erosion reasonably well as well as the development of washover fans. Furthermore, the model demonstrated considerable quantitative skill (upwards of 66% of variance explained, maximum bias - 0.21 m) in hindcasting the post-storm shape and elevation of the subaerial barrier island when a sheet flow sediment transport limiter was applied. The prediction skill ranged between 0.66 and 0.77 in a series of sensitivity tests in which several hydraulic forcing parameters were varied. The sensitivity studies showed that the variations in the incident wave height and wave period affected the entire simulated island morphology while variations in the surge level gradient between the ocean and back barrier bay affected the amount of deposition on the back barrier and in the back barrier bay. The model sensitivity to the sheet flow sediment transport limiter, which served as a proxy for unknown factors controlling the resistance to erosion, was significantly greater than the sensitivity to the hydraulic forcing parameters. If no limiter was applied the simulated morphological response of the barrier island was an order of magnitude greater than the measured morphological response.

Coastal Engineering↗