Acoustical Studies of Sediment Dynamics in the Surf Zone: Sandyduck'97

The central goal of this project is a deeper understanding of the dynamic adjustment of mobile sandy sediments to fluid forcing in the surf zone at small (1cm to 10m) and intermediate (10cm to 100m) horizontal scales. The effort is motivated by the dual need to develop more realistic models of fluid-sediment interactions in the nearshore zone, and for suitable in situ measurement techniques to make the observations necessary to adequately test the models. Of particular interest is the role of bedforms of different characteristic spatial pattern and scale in the local sediment flux and momentum balances. The overall objective of this project is to study bedform genesis, growth, migration, and decay, together with the associated fluid forcing and sediment suspension, in the natural surf zone. A key initial objective was to obtain a comprehensive set of measurements of bed adjustment through time, as a function of cross-shore position, and over a period of several months. This data set will provide a basis for determining cross-shore differences in response synoptically, and for differences in the response trajectories through time and between forcing events, over a suitably wide range of conditions.
See also ADM002252.