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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #400191
Research Project: Computational Tools and Decision Support System Technologies for Agricultural Watershed Physical Processes, Water Quality and Ground Water Management

Location: Watershed Physical Processes Research

Title: Simulated prediction of wave-induced morphological change of a model sand embankment using XBeach in the single layer, non-hydrostatic mods

Author
item ROSSELL, WILLIAM - University Of Mississippi
item OZEREN, YAVUZ - University Of Mississippi
item WREN, DANIEL - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/16/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: NA

Technical Abstract: Shores of both marine and inland water bodies are subject to morphological change driven by waves, but the methods of predicting these changes require further exploration. XBeach is an open-source coastal modeling software with hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic modes, typically used to study hydro-morphological processes in the near shore region of coastal environments. This study used a simple 1D numerical wave tank to observe the retreat and evolution of a sand beach using the single layer, phase-resolving, non-hydrostatic mode (XBNH). Various initial simulations were conducted on a reduced time scale to calibrate the model. Following calibration, long-term simulations were performed considering monochromatic waves of varying wave-height and wave-period. The water surface and beach profile were then analyzed at each output time step to quantify the change of the simulated beach over time. For validation purposes, simulation results were compared to analogous, physical experiments carried out on a laboratory-scale model sand embankment (d¬50 = 500 µm) in a wave tank at the National Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford, MS, and the Brier-Skill-Score was used to evaluate the level of agreement. Preliminary results indicate that XBNH tends to underestimate the amount of bank retreat in the short term; however, once a near-vertical seaward facing berm is formed, the rate of retreat was observed to be similar to that found in the experiments as well as the rate predicted using an analytical model. Further findings will be explored to improve the understanding of potential relationships between wave properties and the process of beach formation, and the results of field-scale simulations will be discussed.