Experimental study on drag coefficient of flexible vegetation under non-breaking waves

Laboratory experiments of wave propagation over rigid and flexible vegetation fields, with the same configurations, were conducted to understand the effect of vegetation flexibility on the drag coefficient (C_D). The direct method and the least squares method (LSM), based on force and flow measurements, are applied to calculate the...

Wave transmission and drag coefficients through dense cylinder arrays: Implications for designing structures for mangrove restoration

Mangrove vegetation constitutes a natural coastal defence against waves and erosion. Despite their protective role, mangrove ecosystems have experienced continuous degradation over the last decades due to human causes. At retreating mangrove coastlines, bamboo structures are built to create new habitat for mangrove colonization. Existing...

Experiences with SWASH on modelling wave propagation over vegetation: Comparisons with lab and field data

The vegetation capacity to protect the coasts from wave action is becoming more important and attractive due to ongoing sea level rise and increasing storminess. In addition, it is a quite environmentally friendly way. Quantifying the vegetation effect in wave propagation will be relevant for coastal management. A non-hydrostatic wave model...

Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Vegetation Representations in SWAN Hindcasting Wave Dissipation by Coastal Wetlands in Chesapeake Bay

Assessing the accuracy of nearshore numerical models—such as SWAN—is important to ensure their effectiveness in representing physical processes and predicting flood hazards. In particular, for application to coastal wetlands, it is important that the model accurately represents wave attenuation by vegetation. In SWAN, vegetation might be...

Deriving vegetation drag coefficients in combined wave-current flows by calibration and direct measurement methods

Coastal vegetation is efficient in damping incident waves even in storm events, thus providing valuable protections to coastal communities. However, large uncertainties lie in determining vegetation drag coefficients (C_D), which are directly related to the wave damping capacity of a certain vegetated area. One major uncertainty is...

Nature-based flood protection: The efficiency of vegetated foreshores for reducing wave loads on coastal dikes

This paper analyses the effect of vegetation on wave damping under severe storm conditions, based on a combination of field measurements and numerical modelling. The field measurements of wave attenuation by vegetation were performed on two salt marshes with two representative but contrasting coastal wetland vegetation types: cordgrass ...