Field and Numerical Study of Resistance and Resilience on a Sea Breeze Dominated Beach in Yucatan (Mexico)

Abstract

The understanding of the beach capability to resist and recover from a disturbance is of paramount importance in coastal engineering. However, few efforts have been devoted to quantifying beach resilience. The present work aims to investigate the shoreline resistance and resilience, associated to a transient disturbance, on a sandy beach. A temporary groin was deployed for 24 h on a micro-tidal sea-breeze dominated beach to induce a shoreline perturbation. Morphological changes were measured by means of beach surveys to estimate the beach perturbation and the further beach recovery after structure removal. An Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of the shoreline position suggests that the first EOF mode describes the spatial-temporal evolution of the shoreline owing to the groin deployment/removal. A new one-line numerical model of beach evolution is calibrated with the field surveys, reproducing both the sediment impoundment and subsequent beach recovery after the structure removal. Thus, a parametric numerical study is conducted to quantify resistance and resilience. Numerical results suggest that beach resistance associated to the presence of a structure decreases with increasing alongshore sediment transport potential, whereas resilience after structure removal is positively correlated with the alongshore diffusivity.

Morphodynamic Response to Low-Crested Detached Breakwaters on a Sea Breeze-Dominated Coast

“…Intense sea breeze events generate short-period, high-incidence angle NE waves that are present all year. Thus, sea breezes play an important role in nearshore hydrodynamics [22] and sediment transport [23]. Furthermore, Central American cold surge (CACS) events, associated with cold-front passages, generate NNW swell waves that occur during winter months [24].…”

“…Maximum wave heights often occur during late fall and early spring and are associated with cold-front events, which drive NNW swells (Figure 6a). On the other hand, predominant, short-period NE waves associated with sea breeze events are present all year but are more frequent and intense during the spring-summer months, when cold fronts are absent (Figure 6a and see Figure 2 in [23]). Mean sea level was recorded with a tidal gauge from the National Mareographic Service (www.mareografico.unam.mx) located in the Progreso Pier (see Figure 1).…”

Coastal Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategies: From Monitoring to Applied Research

“…Medellín et al [17] studied the shoreline resistance and resilience associated to a transient disturbance (a temporary groin) by means of field observations and numerical modelling. The study site is a micro-tidal sea-breeze dominated beach located in the northern Yucatan Peninsula.…”

A Nourishment Performance Index for Beach Erosion/Accretion at Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi

“…Two available Google Earth satellite images, from the years 2008 and 2009, have been considered to set the initial/final shoreline position and to determine the optimal value for the calibration coefficient. Different values of K GSb , ranging between 0.005 and 0.5 have been adopted; for each of them, a measure of the error between the resulting calculated 2009 shoreline and the actual one has been determined, with a similar procedure as in [37]. The minimum value of the error is related to the optimal value for the calibration coefficient K GSb , which has been assumed equal to 0.3.…”