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Extreme Water Levels for Australian Beaches Using Empirical Equations for Shoreline Wave Setup
Author(s) -
O'Grady J. G.,
McInnes K. L.,
Hemer M. A.,
Hoeke R. K.,
Stephenson A. G.,
Colberg F.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1029/2018jc014871
Subject(s) - shore , significant wave height , hindcast , storm , wave height , wave model , quantile , wind wave , wave setup , plage , geology , linear regression , meteorology , environmental science , climatology , statistics , wave propagation , geography , oceanography , mathematics , physics , mechanical wave , longitudinal wave , quantum mechanics
Abstract Empirical equations for wave breaking and wave setup are compared with archived shoreline wave setup measurements to investigate the contribution of wind waves to extreme Mean Total Water Levels (MTWL, the mean height of the shoreline), for natural beaches exposed to open ocean wind waves. A broad range of formulations is compared through linear regression and quantile regression analysis of the highest measured values. Shoreline wave setup equations are selected based on the availability of local beach slope data and the ability of the quantile regression to show a good representation of the highest measured levels. Wave parameters from an existing spectral wave hindcast are used as input to the selected equations and are combined with a storm tide time series to quantify the relative contribution of shoreline wave setup to the extreme MTWL climate along Australian beaches. A multipass analysis is provided to understand the ability to capture the shoreline wave setup estimates with and without considering beach slope. The national scale analysis which does not include beach slope indicates there are multiple contributing factors to MTWL. Examples are provided at two locations of differing local beach slope to show the importance of including local beach slope in determining the contribution of waves to MTWL. A tool is in development for further investigation of wave setup for Australian beaches.