Shoreline Change and Strom-Induced Beach Erosion Modeling

Abstract

This report consists of seven papers dealing with numerical simulation of beach change that were recently published by members of the Coastal Engineering Research Center, US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, and colleagues from other organizations. The papers collectively provide an overview of the state of research and engineering capabilities of numerical modeling of beach change, as well as a framework for understanding the role of modeling in planning and design of shore protection projects. The papers treat three major topics: use of numerical simulation models in project planning and design, prediction of long-term shoreline change, and prediction of the response of the beach profile to storms. Five of the papers appear in the proceedings of the Coastal Zone '89 conference; one is an updated and expanded version of a paper appearing in that proceedings, and one appears in the Proceedings of the Beach Technology '88 conference. Coastal Zone '89 was held under the auspices of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Beach Technology '88 was held under the auspices of the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association. In support of the Coastal Zone '89 conference, the editor of this report organized a special session of five of the papers included here under the session theme, "Shoreline Change and Storm-Induced Beach Erosion Modeling," also used as the title of this report. This information is expected to be of interest to US Army Corps of Engineers field offices and other public and private organizations involved with technical aspects of beach change modeling and the use of models in project planning and design.