Geology topics

Dirk P. Rijnsdorp

Publications and source records attributed to Dirk P. Rijnsdorp.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2023

Dynamics of the wave-driven circulation in the lee of nearshore reefs

Nearshore rocky reefs with scales of order 10–100 m are common along the world's coastline and often shape wave-driven hydrodynamics and shoreline morphology in their lee. The interaction of waves with these reefs generally results in either two or four-cell mean circulation systems (2CC and 4CC, respectively), with diverging flows behind the reefs and at the shoreline in the 2CC case and flows that diverge in the lee and converge at the shoreline in the 4CC case. By applying a phase-resolving wave-flow model to conduct a detailed analysis of mean momentum balances for waves interacting with nearshore reefs, we develop an understanding of the drivers of 2CC and 4CC flow dynamics and how they vary for different reef geometries and wave and water level conditions. The 2CC or 4CC patterns were primarily driven by alongshore pressure gradients toward the exposed (nonreef fronted) or reef-fronted beach. These alongshore pressure gradients were dependent on the cross-shore setup dynamics governed by the balance between pressure (i.e., related to the setup) and radiation stress gradients, and mean bottom stresses exerted on the water column. If shoreline wave setup in the lee of the reef was less than the exposed beach, a 4CC pattern developed with convergent flow at the shoreline in the lee of the reef; otherwise, a 2CC emerged with divergent flow at the shoreline. Across the parameter space investigated, reef roughness, distance to the shoreline, and beach slope were the three parameters most likely to change the flow patterns between 2CC and 4CC.

JGR-Oceans↗

USGS2022

Wave-driven hydrodynamic processes over fringing reefs with varying slopes, depths, and roughness: Implications for coastal protection

Wave breaking on the steep fore-reef slopes of shallow fringing reefs is effective at dissipating incident sea-swell waves prior to reaching reef shorelines. However, wave setup and free infragravity waves generated during the sea-swell breaking process are often the largest contributors to wave-driven water levels at the shoreline. Laboratory flume experiments and a multi-layer phase-resolving nonhydrostatic wave-flow model, which includes a canopy model to predict drag forces generated by roughness elements, were used to investigate the wave-driven water levels on fringing reefs. Though the model is capable of three dimensional simulations, consistent with the laboratory study, a two-dimensional vertical mode was used. In contrast to many previous studies, both the laboratory experiment and the numerical model account for the effects of large bottom roughness. The numerical model reproduced the observations of the wave transformation and runup over both smooth and rough reef profiles. The numerical model was then extended to quantify the influence of reef geometry and compared to simulations of plane beaches lacking a reef. For a set offshore forcing condition, the fore-reef slope controlled wave runup on reef fronted beaches, whereas the beach slope controlled wave runup on plane beaches. As a result, the coastal protection utility of reefs is dependent on these slopes. For our examples, with a fore-reef slope of 1/5 and a 500 m prototype reef flat length, a beach slope of ~1/30 marked the transition between the reef providing runup reduction for steeper beach slopes and enhancing wave runup for milder slopes. Roughness coverage, spacing, dimensions, and drag coefficient were investigated with results indicating the greatest runup reductions were due to tall roughness elements on the reef flat.

JGR Oceans↗

USGS2022

The influence of submerged coastal structures on nearshore flows and wave runup

Engineered and natural submerged coastal structures (e.g., submerged breakwaters and reefs) modify incident wave fields and thus can alter hydrodynamic processes adjacent to coastlines. Although submerged structures are generally assumed to promote beach protection by dissipating waves offshore and creating sheltered conditions in their lee, their interaction with waves can result in mean wave-driven circulation patterns that may either promote shoreline accretion or erosion. Here, we analyse the mean flow patterns and shoreline water levels (wave runup) in the lee of idealised impermeable submerged structures with a phase-resolved nonhydrostatic numerical model. Waves propagating over submerged structures can drive either a 2-cell mean (wave-averaged) circulation, which is characterised by diverging flows behind the structure and at the shoreline, or 4-cell circulation, with converging flows at the shoreline and diverging flows in the immediate lee of the structure. The numerical results show that the mode of circulation can be predicted with a set of relationships depending on the incoming wave heights, the structure crest level, and distance to the shoreline (or structure depth). Qualitative agreement between the mean flow and proxies for the sediment transport using an energetics approach suggest that the mean flow can be a robust proxy for inferring sediment transport patterns. For the cases considered, the submerged structures had a minimal influence on shoreline wave setup and wave runup despite the wave energy dissipation by the structures due to alongshore wave energy fluxes in the lee. Consequently, these results suggest that the coastal protection provided by the range of impermeable submerged structures we modelled is primarily due to their capacity to promote beach accretion.

Coastal Engineering↗

USGS2022

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations of reef surf zone processes driven by plunging irregular waves

As waves interact with the slopes of coral reefs and other steep bathymetry profiles, plunging breaking usually occurs where the free surface overturns and violent water motion is triggered. Resolving these surf zone processes pose significant challenges for conventional mesh-based hydrodynamic models, due to the rapidly-deforming nature of the free surface and associated flows. Yet the accurate prediction of these surf zone hydrodynamics is critical for predicting a wide range of nearshore processes driven by wave breaking (e.g., wave dissipation and energy transfers; mean water levels and currents; and wave runup). In this study we assess the ability of the mesh-free, Lagrangian particle-based numerical modelling approach Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) based on DualSPHysics, to simulate the fine-scale hydrodynamic processes driven by irregular wave transformation over a fringing reef profile, by comparing results against detailed experimental observations from a physical modelling study. To greatly improve the computational efficiency, the SPH model was coupled to the mesh-based multi-layer nonhydrostatic wave-flow model SWASH. With this coupled approach, SWASH was used to efficiently simulate the evolution of non-breaking waves from the wavemaker up to the fore reef slope, with the SPH model then used to simulate the detailed hydrodynamic processes over the reef from just offshore of the breakpoint to the shoreline . The SPH model was able to accurately reproduce the complex free surface deformations during plunging breaking, the spectral evolution of waves across the reef flat (including nonlinear wave shape), the mean water levels and currents, and wave runup at the shoreline. Using the long duration simulations (>400 wave periods), the model was able to reproduce the full range of wave motions over the reef (from sea-swell to infragravity frequencies), including the increasing dominance of low frequency waves towards the shoreline and the large cross-reef standing wave motions excited by the reef geometry.

Ocean Modelling↗

USGS2022

Predicting coastal impacts by wave farms: A comparison of wave-averaged and wave-resolving models

Wave energy converters (WECs) will have to be arranged into arrays of many devices to extract commercially viable amounts of energy. To understand the potential coastal impacts of WEC arrays, most research to date has relied on wave-averaged models given their computational efficiency. However, it is unknown how accurate wave-averaged model predictions are given a lack of validation data and their inherent simplifications of various hydrodynamic processes (e.g., diffraction). This paper compares the predictions of coastal wave farm impacts from a coupled wave-averaged and flow model (Delft3D-SNL-SWAN), to a wave-resolving wave-flow model (SWASH) that intrinsically accounts for more of the relevant physics. Model predictions were compared using an idealized coastal bathymetry over a range of wave conditions and wave farm geometries. Both models predicted the largest impacts (changes to the nearshore hydrodynamics) for large and dense wave farms located close to the shore (1 km) and the smallest impacts for the small and widely spaced farm at a greater offshore distance (3 km). However, the wave-resolving model generally predicted somewhat larger impacts (i.e., changes to the nearshore wave heights, mean velocities and mean water levels). We also found that coupling the wave-averaged model to a flow model resulted in more realistic downstream predictions than the stand-alone wave-averaged model.

Renewable Energy↗

USGS2021

A numerical study of wave-driven mean flows and setup dynamics at a coral reef-lagoon system

Two-dimensional mean wave-driven flow and setup dynamics were investigated at a reef-lagoon system at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, using the numerical wave-flow model, SWASH. Phase-resolved numerical simulations of the wave and flow fields, validated with highly detailed field observations (including >10 sensors through the energetic surf zone), were used to quantify the main mechanisms that govern the mean momentum balances and resulting mean current and setup patterns, with particular attention to the role of nonlinear wave shapes. Momentum balances from the phase-resolved model indicated that onshore flows near the reef crest were primarily driven by the wave force (dominated by radiation stress gradients) due to intense breaking, whereas the flow over the reef flat and inside the lagoon and channels was primarily driven by a pressure gradient. Wave setup inside the lagoon was primarily controlled by the wave force and bottom stress. The bottom stress reduced the setup on the reef flat and inside the lagoon. Excluding the bottom stress contribution in the setup balance resulted in an over prediction of the wave-setup inside the lagoon by up to 200–370%. The bottom stress was found to be caused by the combined presence of onshore directed wave-driven currents and (nonlinear) waves. Exclusion of the bottom stress contribution from nonlinear wave shapes led to an over prediction of the setup inside the lagoon by approximately 20–40%. The inclusion of the nonlinear wave shape contribution to the bottom stress term was found to be particularly relevant in reef regions that experience a net onshore mass flux over the reef crest.

Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans↗

USGS2021

An efficient method to calculate depth-integrated, phase-averaged momentum balances in non-hydrostatic models

Analysis of the mean (wave-averaged) momentum balance is a common approach used to explain the physical forcing driving wave set-up and mean currents in the nearshore zone. Traditionally this approach has been applied to phase-averaged models but has more recently been applied to phase-resolving models using post-processing, whereby model output is used to calculate each of the momentum terms. While phase-resolving models have the advantage of capturing the nonlinear properties of waves propagating in the nearshore (making them advantageous to enhance understanding of nearshore processes), the post-processing calculation of the momentum terms does not guarantee that the momentum balance closes. We show that this is largely due to the difficulty (or impossibility) of being consistent with the numerical approach. If the residual is of a similar magnitude as any of the relevant momentum terms (which is common with post-processing methods as we show), the analysis is largely compromised. Here we present a new method to internally calculate and extract the depth-integrated, mean momentum terms in the phase-resolving non-hydrostatic wave-flow model SWASH in a manner that is consistent with the numerical implementation. Further, we demonstrate the utility of the new method with two existing physical model studies. By being consistent with the numerical framework, the internal method calculates the momentum terms with a much lower residual at computer precision, combined with greatly reduced calculation time and output storage requirements compared to post-processing techniques. The method developed here allows the accurate evaluation of the depth-integrated, mean momentum terms of wave-driven flows while taking advantage of the more complete representation of the wave dynamics offered by phase-resolving models. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity for advances in the understanding of nearshore processes particularly at more complex sites where wave nonlinearity and energy transfers are important.

Ocean Modelling↗