Beach Processes And Coastal Hydrodynamics

Text on coastal engineering and oceanography covering theory and applications intended to mitigate shoreline erosion.

This collection contains 109 papers presented at the Fourth Conference on Coastal Dynamics, held in Lund, Sweden, June 11-15, 2001.

Introduces beach processes within an approach that balances an engineering perspective against a purely geological one. Provides an up-to-date review of the current understanding of beach processes as well as applications to solve coastal problems (erosion, management issues, etc.). Discusses issues related to beach erosion and other processes. The second edition of Beach Processes and Sedimentation has been updated to include information gathered from two decades of science and engineering in the field, reflecting the vast increase in knowledge since the first edition. Discusses the rise of coastal zone management as well as patterns of wave transformations and dissipation within the surf zone, and how these water motions produce cross-shore movements of sediment resulting in beach-profile variations. An essential reference book for many readers: from beach front property owners to politicians contending with beachfront erosion to engineers addressing beachfront reclamation projects.

Following on the success of the first conference, the Wessex Institute of Technology is convening the Second International Conference on Physical Coastal Processes, Management and Engineering. This book contains papers to be presented at that Conference. Coastal zone dynamics involve distinctive features that stem from both near shore hydrodynamics, and the complex local behaviour of the atmosphere that is affected by the irregularity of the coastal topography and variations in land sea surface roughness and thermal properties. Complex interactions occur between the atmosphere, ocean and land, leading to large temporal and spatial differences in air-sea exchange processes and wind strength and direction. Recreational and tourism demand on coastal areas activities makes increased shore and beach protection necessary. Coastlines are often subjected to direct impact of wind, swell and storm wave activity. Many other physical phenomena, such as tides and associated currents, long waves and storm surges, also affect the dynamic behaviour of the coastal zone. With the increase in extreme events due to climate change, the role of extreme events in changing coastal zones needs to be considered. The International Conference will consider also of these and will cover such topics as: Wave modelling; Wave transformation hydrodynamics; Extreme events and sea level rise; Sea defences; Interaction between coastal defences and processes; Energy recovery; Hydrodynamic forces; Sediment transport and erosion; Pollution and dispersion; Planning and beach design; Coastal geomorphology; Coastal processes and navigation; Coastal processes and GIS; Bio-physical coastal processes; and Great Lakes problems. The book will be of interest to engineers and government officials involved with coastal zone management and development

The coastal zone is the host to many human activities, which have significantly increased in the last decades. However, sea level rise and more frequent storm events severely affect beaches and coastal structures, with negative consequences and dramatic impacts on coastal communities. These aspects add to typical coastal problems, like flooding and beach erosion, which already leading to large economic losses and human fatalities. Modeling is thus fundamental for an exhaustive understanding of the nearshore region in the present and future environment. Innovative tools and technologies may help to better understand coastal processes in terms of hydrodynamics, sediment transport, bed morphology, and their interaction with coastal structures. This book collects several contributions focusing on nearshore dynamics, and span among several time and spatial scales using both physical and numerical approaches. The aim is to describe the most recent advances in coastal dynamics.

This book covers water waves, surf zone hydrodynamics, tides in oceans and estuaries, storm surges, estuarine mixing, basic sediment transport, coastal morphodynamics and coastal groundwater dynamics. It is an introductory treatment, suitable for a first course in coastal and estuarine processes for earth scientists or engineers. Yet, there are substantial amounts of new material that are included, such as the explicit, analytical treatment of transient, forced long waves. Inclusion of this material will in turn strongly enhance the introductory treatment of tsunami, storm surges and surf beat. The treatment of sine wave theory emphasizes expressions which are explicit in the water depth h (using koh instead of kh) so that they can easily be differentiated or integrated with respect to h. This is a major pedagogical advantage because of the enhanced transparency. The treatment of turbulent mixing includes finite mixing length effects which provide an explanation for differential diffusion of different sediment sizes in suspension. The effects of acceleration skewness and boundary layer streaming are also included in the basic sediment transport models. The inclusion of beach groundwater dynamics — including the mechanisms by which waves as well as tides drive groundwater motion — provides a link between the previously unconnected fields of coastal hydraulics and regional groundwater modeling. Serving as a good reference book, it is fully indexed and comprehensively cross referenced. Abundant references to more detailed texts are also provided.

This book discusses selected theoretical topics of coastal hydrodynamics, including basic principles and applications in coastal oceanography and coastal engineering. It is not intended as a handbook; the emphasis is placed on presentation of a number of basic problems, rather than giving detailed instructions for their application. The bulk of the material deals with surface waves. In the author's opinion there is still a strong need for a book on wave phenomena in the coastal waters, as general textbooks on sea surface dynamics focus most of their attention on the deep ocean. This book intends to fill this need by concentrating on the phenomena typical of the coastal zone. Based on lectures given at the Institute of Hydroengineering, Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdansk, the approach throughout is a combination of the theoretical and observational. A basic knowledge of ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as the statistical and spectral analysis of time series, is assumed. The reader should also be familiar with fundamental hydrodynamic concepts. The book comprises nine chapters. Governing equations and conservation laws are treated in Chapter 1, using the variational principles. The theory of regular surface waves is covered in Chapters 2 to 4. The nonlinear effect of wave train modulation and their breaking of beaches is examined in Chapter 5. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on the statistical and spectral treatment of waves induced by wind. Current generation and circulation pattern are the subject of Chapter 8, while sea level variations are examined in Chapter 9. References for further reading are given at the end of each chapter.