Afg. Faria et al., VERTICAL PROFILES OF LONGSHORE CURRENTS AND RELATED BED SHEAR-STRESS AND BOTTOM ROUGHNESS, J GEO RES-O, 103(C2), 1998, pp. 3217-3232
The vertical structure of the mean wave-driven longshore current over
a barred beach is examined on three strong current days during the DUC
K94 experiment, and it is found that the bottom boundary layer is well
described by a logarithmic profile (mean correlation coefficient for
all 22 profiles, 0.98). The logarithmic profile fits better in the tro
ugh, where turbulent bottom boundary layer processes predominate, than
over the bar, where breaking-wave-induced turbulence generated at the
surface modifies the profile. The surface layer in the presence of wa
ves is well described by adjusting the logarithmic profile for the int
ermittent presence of water and adding the alongshore component of the
mass transport velocity (slope of the least squares linear regression
between model predictions and observations, 1.005 and root-mean-squar
e (rms) error of 7%). Bed shear stresses calculated from logarithmic v
elocity profiles are equated to a quadratic bottom shear stress formul
ation. The associated bed shear stress coefficients vary by more than
an order; of magnitude across the surf zone (0.0006-0.012). Bottom rou
ghness was measured throughout the nearshore using a sonic altimeter m
ounted on a moving platform. The bed shear stress coefficients are pos
itively correlated with bottom roughness (linear correlation coefficie
nt, 0.6). A higher linear correlation coefficient (0.8) is obtained by
subtracting skin friction from the total bed shear stress.