Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Water
Haley Canham - SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Co-Author(s): Jennifer Irish, Robert Weiss, Stephanie Smallegan, and Wei Cheng, Virginia Tech
Barrier island sediment transport and deposition can be simulated through the use of numerical models. The occurrence of a hurricane storm event has the potential for catastrophic effects on an island. In the event of overwash, large quantities of sediment may be transported and deposited into the inner bay, and could result in total loss of the island. Differences in barrier island bathymetry may have an influence on sediment transport and deposition. Modeled results may be compared with sediment core samples from the inner bay to provide insight into strength, and frequency of historic events. Three barrier island profiles: Santa Rosa Island, Florida; Mantoloking, New Jersey; and Bay Head, New Jersey with varying dune heights and berm widths were used in simulations conducted with the numerical model XBeach. Seven different idealized hurricanes were created with varied wave height, wave period, and storm surge, and intensities. Through a comparison of post event bathymetry, hurricane sediment transport is heavily influenced by barrier island bathymetry. Storm surge and dune height have a distinctly large effect on the likelihood and severity of an overwash event. Significantly more work must be done in order to appropriately compare hurricane sediment transport results with other events.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): We acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation through NSF/REU Site Grant EEC-1359051. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Faculty Advisor: Vinod Lohani, vlohani@vt.edu