Field run-up measurements: Calibration of a physically based lagrangian shoreline model

Abstract

In the present contribution a measurement technique based on video imaging has been selected for the assessment of the maximum run-up. Such measurements have been used for the calibration of a numerical model and of an empirical formulation. The on-site run-up measurements have been carried out at "Lido Signorino" beach, near Marsala, Italy. The positions of the swash have been localized on a transect, normal to the shore, constituted by stakes placed at 0.5 m intervals each other. The video camera was placed orthogonally to the line of the stakes. For the numerical simulations a 1DH Boussinesq-type of model for breaking waves has been applied which takes into account the wave run-up by a Lagrangian shoreline model. In such simulations monochromatic waves have been propagated in a numerical flume having the same beach slope of the measured transect. The comparison between registered and estimated run-up have underlined an acceptable agreement. In particular, it has been obtained that the numerical model tends to underestimate the run-up, instead the applied empirical formula gives overestimated values.