MONITORING AND MODELING GROUNDWATER BEHAVIOR SANDY BEACHES

This paper reviews previous work on groundwater behaviour in sandy bea ches. We consider the variations in beach watertables and moisture con ditions above the watertable in relation to tidal and wave frequencies , and the relationship between beach groundwater, swash/backwash hydro dynamics and sediment transport. We note that most work on beach groun dwater processes has tended to be empirical and argue that if understa nding of beach groundwater/swash zone sediment transport interactions is to be improved, better measurement and physical representation of t he relevant processes are needed, together with the formulation of phy sically-based models. We identify the form that future field monitorin g programmes and models of beach groundwater processes could take.