Evaluation of Wave Run-Up Predictions From Parametric Models on Trinidad Beaches

Abstract

The comprehension of wave run-up is essential to coastal engineering. It is required to obtain an understanding of beach profile changes, beach recovery and the interaction of waves on coastal structures. Several empirical expressions have been defined to predict extreme wave run-up positions through the comparisons of offshore wave parameters, beach slopes and synchronous run-up observations. This paper assesses the accuracy of wave run-up formulae on three Trinidad beaches. Run-up data were collected using Traditional Surveying Techniques and statistically analysed to determine both the maximum run-up and the 2% run-up exceedance. Observed values of wave run-up were compared to values predicted by four (4) field wave run-up models. All models were found to inadequately predict run-up observations with an occurrence of predominantly overestimations. Stockdon et al. [1] provided the best estimation of run-observation with root mean square error and scatter index of 0.15.