Erosion during Hurricane Isabel

Abstract

A better understanding of the complex interplay between ocean waves, water levels, and currents, and the movement of sediment in the dune-beach system will improve predictions of coastal environmental hazards, water-column optics, bar movement, and mine burial -- all of which have tactical implications. Historically, this interaction of different processes has been modeled by using simple parameterizations. In this study, we explicitly simulate the above processes through a suite of numerical models. We use a depiction of the landfall of Hurricane Isabel (2003) on the barrier islands of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, to examine potential erosion that contributes to barrier island breaching and washover. This prototype for a rapidly relocatable nearshore sediment transport modeling system will take advantage of recent advances in Navy technology for global deep-ocean and coastal environmental modeling.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA518864

Entities

People

  • Clark Rowley
  • James D. Dykes
  • T. R. Keen

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Photographs
  • Aerial Photography
  • Barrier Islands
  • Beaches
  • Cape Hatteras
  • Cyclones
  • Hurricanes
  • North Carolina
  • Ocean Environments
  • Oceans
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Sea Level Rise
  • Storm Surges
  • Storms
  • Tropical Cyclones
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Coastal and Marine Engineering/Sediment Transport/Hydraulic Engineering
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers