Representative waves for morphological simulations

Abstract

In the present study, a set of representative waves is derived for the coast adjacent to the Ria de Aveiro, such that it is morphologically equivalent to the complete wave regime. Different schematising methodologies are presented, based on the principles of conservation of wave energy and equivalent longshore sediment transport capacity over the beach profile. Firstly, the sediment transport capacities due to the whole set of waves is computed and then various sets of representative waves are proposed based on the principles above. The most suitable set is selected by taking into account the dominant sediment transport processes at the selected site. The representative waves can be used to significantly reduce computational time in morphological models, by reducing the number of different sea states that characterise the annual wave climate. This simplified nearshore wave regime shall provide the wave effects into the sediment transport formulae and the hydrodynamical model.