SANDT-PRO: SEDIMENT TRANSPORT MEASUREMENTS UNDER IRREGULAR AND BREAKING WAVES

Abstract

First results are presented of a measurement campaign done in the large-scale Barcelona CIEM wave flume from October 2013 to January 2014. The aim of the experiments was to improve our understanding of sediment transport processes in the near-shore region. In particular, we focused on the effects of (1) wave breaking and (2) wave irregularity on net sediment transport rates and sediment transport processes. High-resolution measurements were obtained using advanced instrumentation, deployed from a custom-built measuring frame that could be horizontally and vertically positioned. These instruments provide detailed insights in the vertical distributions of sediment fluxes. Preliminary results from the breaking-wave experiments show an onshore transport of sediment prior to breaking, likely to be dominated by wave-nonlinearity effects, and an offshore sediment flux shoreward of breaking, where the sediment fluxes are undertow-dominated.