Wave-Current Interaction in Coastal Inlets and River Mouths

The wave - driven dynamics of coastal areas are important for circulation , mixing and transport processes, and accessibility by vessels. The long - term goal of this study is to improve our understanding, observational capability, and model representation of wave - current interaction in complex coastal inlets, an d determine the role of nonlinearity and inhomogeneity on wave statistics in such areas. The specific objectives of this study are to: 1) develop observational capability using wave - and current - resolving Lagrangian drifters to study wave - current interaction, and contribute to a comprehensive community data set of coastal inlet and river mouth processes, 2) better understand the role of current shear , wave inhomogeneity and nonlinearity in wave - current interaction through analysis of observations and modeling, and 3) develop predictive modeling capability of wave statistics in a complex coastal environment with two - dimensional bathymetry and currents. Sponsored in part by NPS-OC, grant no. N00014-13-1-0147.