Setup in the surfzone
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1801Location
Duck, NCLa Jolla, CA
Egmond, The Netherlands
Terschelling, The Netherlands
DOI
10.1575/1912/1801Keyword
Ocean waves; Ocean wave powerAbstract
Surfzone wave height transformation and wave-breaking-driven increases in the mean sea
level (setup) are examined on alongshore-uniform beaches with alongshore homogeneous
and inhomogeneous wave forcing. While previously derived models predict wave heights
adequately (root-mean-square errors typically less than 20%), the models can be
improved by tuning a free parameter or by using a new parameterization based on the
deep-water wave height. Based on a sensitivity analysis of the cross-shore momentum
balance used to predict setup, a one-dimensional (1-D) model is developed that includes
wave rollers and bottom stress owing to the mean offshore-directed flow. The model
predicts setup accurately at three alongshore homogeneous field sites, as well as at a site
where the incident wave field is alongshore non-uniform, suggesting that setup is driven
primarily by the cross-shore (1-D) forcing. Furthermore, alongshore gradients of setup
can be important to driving alongshore flows in the surfzone, and the 1-D setup model
predicts these gradients accurately enough to simulate the observed flows.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2007
Suggested Citation
Thesis: Apotsos, Alex, "Setup in the surfzone", 2007-09, DOI:10.1575/1912/1801, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/1801Related items
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