Hoist the flag: A boundary rip current case study on swimmer safety in the Scheveningen harbour area

Each year several fatalities due to rip currents are reported in the Netherlands. One of these accidents was during May 11th in 2020 near the Scheveningen harbour, were several surfers lost their lives. During the hydrodynamic and meteorological accident were quite severe, with a significant wave height of 3.0m and wind speeds of 11 m/s, which...

Impact of sand nourishments on hydrodynamics and swimmer safety

Artificial sand nourishments are a common measure to mitigate coastal erosion problems. Such nourishments can have an impact on currents and waves near the beach, especially when the nourishment has a large size. As nourished beaches often have a recreational function, these altered wave and current patterns may pose a threat to swimmers. This...

Sensitivity of rip current forecasts to errors in remotely-sensed bathymetry

Operational nearshore current forecasts based on numerical model simulations are gaining popularity as a measure to increase the safety of swimmers. Applying remotely-sensed bathymetry in these model simulations is often proposed in order to cope with rapidly changing nearshore bathymetry. Errors in the remotely-sensed bathymetry may...

Nearshore Topography and Bather Risk

This document describes a study into the influence of alongshore bathymetric variability on currents which form a risk to bathers. Changes to coastal zone management along the Delfland Coast have given rise to questions on the influence of alongshore bathymetric variability on bather risk. Extensive measurement data is available from two...

Rip Current Prediction System for Swimmer Safety: Towards operational forecasting using a process based model and nearshore bathymetry from video

Rip currents are among the most dangerous coastal hazards for the bathing public, and contribute to the highest portion of beach rescues all over the world. In order to help life guards in planning and preparing rescue resources so as to minimize casualties, information about where and when rip currents may occur is needed. This can be provided...

Impact of nourishments on nearshore currents and swimmer safety on the Dutch coast

Assessing swimmer safety along the Dutch coast entails more than only assessing the risk of rip currents. Seven criteria have been formulated to make a comprehensive assessment of swimmer safety along the Dutch coast. These are based on interviews with lifeguards, rescue report statistics and detailed lagrangian measurements of the current...