Jie Yu, North Carolina State University
Rip Currents and Wave-Current Interaction
Abstract:
Breaking waves generate large-scale surf zone currents, e.g. alongshore
and rip currents. These persisting currents provide the primary
mechanisms to transport, mix and disperse water, sediment and pollutants
in the shallow surf zone, where ocean currents generally do not extend.
Rip currents are widely acknowledged as a major beach hazard, accounting
for 80% surfzone rescues in the US. Studies in Florida show that
rip currents cause more deaths than hurricanes do. Their influence
on shoreline erosion and water quality on recreational beaches can
be significant. Theoretical understanding of their generation mechanisms,
however, has not been satisfactory, in particular on beaches lacking
alongshore variability.
In this talk, I will present some recent development in modeling rip
current dynamics, addressing the importance of the fully dynamical
interactions of waves and currents. The existence of a hydrodynamic
instability, due to this mutual interaction and leading to the formation
of rip currents on alongshore uniform beaches, calls for particular
attention of the multi-scale dynamics when modeling hydro-morphodynamic
systems in coastal environment.
Address: Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering.
North Carolina State University.
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