Flow velocity analysis of lee side “Wide Green Dike” using Swash

The water authority ”Hunze en Aa’s” initiated a demonstration project adjacent to the Dollard where non traditional dike reinforcement strategies could be developed. For this project Sweco designed a sea dike with an outer slope more gentle than traditional. This dike is called the ”Wide Green Dike” (WGD) and has an outer slope of 1:7. This dike...

Simulating wave runup on an intermediate–reflective beach using a wave-resolving and a wave-averaged version of XBeach

The prediction of wave runup, as well as its components, time-averaged setup and the time-varying swash, is a key element of coastal storm hazard assessments, as wave runup controls the transitions between morphodynamic response types such as dune erosion and overwash, and the potential for flooding by wave overtopping. While theoretically...

Numerical Modelling of Beach Recovery Following a Storm Event: A Hybrid Behavioural / Process-Based Approach

The present thesis describes the development of a hybrid behavioural / process-based and wave-averaged model (XBeach Surfbeat) that successfully predicts the recovery of the subaerial beach at Narrabeen Beach, Australia, following a severe storm erosion in April 2015. Two model innovations were developed. Firstly, a behavioural model was...

Improving XBeach non-hydrostatic model predictions of the swash morphodynamics of intermediate-reflective beaches

A very common observation is the episodic erosion of beaches during storms and the slow recovery (accretion) afterwards (Yates et al. 2009). Morphodynamic models parameterize physical processes in order to relate the fluid motions (hydrodynamics) to the bed level changes (morphodynamics) over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Despite...

A conceptual model for spatial Grain size variability on the surface of and within beaches

Grain size on the surface of natural beaches has been observed to vary spatially and temporally with morphology and wave energy. The stratigraphy of the beach at Duck, North Carolina, USA was examined using 36 vibracores (~1-1.5 m long) collected along a cross-shore beach profile. Cores show that beach sediments are finer (~0.3 mm) and more...

Deterministic and Stochastic Modelling of Ocean Surface Waves

Predicting the mean wave statistics in the nearshore, for instance the significant wave height, has predominantly been the domain of operational stochastic wave models based on the radiative transport (or energy balance) equation. Although reasonably successful in the nearshore, these models were originally developed for oceanic scales, and...