Development and Verification of a Comprehensive Community Model for Physical Processes in the Nearshore Ocean

Our goal is to develop a comprehensive, verified community model that predicts nearshore hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and seabed morphology changes given offshore wave conditions and initial bathymetry. The basic scientific objective is to synthesize understanding of physical processes in the nearshore ocean by developing a model for waves and resulting radiation stresses and mass fluxes over evolving coastal bathymetry and currents wave-induced circulation sediment transport and morphological evolution. An additional objective is to test model components and the full community model with field. Our approach is to develop a tightly-coupled system of individual model components, or modules. We are utilizing a framework where wave processes are distinguished from wave-averaged processes by means of a suitable time average. The resulting set of modules and their functions are: 1. wave module - calculation of second- and third-moment wave properties, including frequency-directional spectra, radiation stresses, and wave skewness and asymmetry 2. circulation module - calculation of wave-driven circulation and turbulence levels 3. seabed module - calculation of local sediment fluxes and seabed changes resulting from flux divergences, and characterization of bed geometry. A National Oceanographic Partnership Program Award. Prepared in collaboration with Oregon State University, North Carolina State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Florida, Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Laboratory, and Princeton University.