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    Modeling surf zone tracer plumes : 1. Waves, mean currents, and low-frequency eddies

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    2011JC007210.pdf (708.7Kb)
    Date
    2011-11-18
    Author
    Feddersen, Falk  Concept link
    Clark, David B.  Concept link
    Guza, R. T.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4947
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007210
    DOI
    10.1029/2011JC007210
    Keyword
     Mixing; Surf zone; Tracer dispersion 
    Abstract
    A model that accurately simulates surf zone waves, mean currents, and low-frequency eddies is required to diagnose the mechanisms of surf zone tracer transport and dispersion. In this paper, a wave-resolving time-dependent Boussinesq model is compared with waves and currents observed during five surf zone dye release experiments. In a companion paper, Clark et al. (2011) compare a coupled tracer model to the dye plume observations. The Boussinesq model uses observed bathymetry and incident random, directionally spread waves. For all five releases, the model generally reproduces the observed cross-shore evolution of significant wave height, mean wave angle, bulk directional spread, mean alongshore current, and the frequency-dependent sea surface elevation spectra and directional moments. The largest errors are near the shoreline where the bathymetry is most uncertain. The model also reproduces the observed cross-shore structure of rotational velocities in the infragravity (0.004 < f < 0.03 Hz) and very low frequency (VLF) (0.001 < f < 0.004 Hz) bands, although the modeled VLF energy is 2–3 times too large. Similar to the observations, the dominant contributions to the modeled eddy-induced momentum flux are in the VLF band. These eddies are elliptical near the shoreline and circular in the mid surf zone. The model-data agreement for sea swell waves, low-frequency eddies, and mean currents suggests that the model is appropriate for simulating surf zone tracer transport and dispersion.
    Description
    Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2011. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): C11027, doi:10.1029/2011JC007210.
    Collections
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Journal of Geophysical Research 116 (2011): C11027
     

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