Energy reflection effect on the beach profile morphology: validation for the iberian Península coast

Abstract

Waves are the most energetic process affecting the coastline. When the incident ware reaches the beach its energy is partially dissipated and partially reflected, changing the beatch profile. We propose a two-section equilibrium profile model based on the different forces that act along the beach: the breaker and the bottom friction dissipation. The improvement of this model is to incorporate reflection that under certain conditions has an important influence on the beach morphology. The proposed equilibrium beach profile is composed by a surf profile and a shoaling profile. The obtained expressions are composed by two terms associated to each wave phenomena. We have validated this model with measured profiles along the Iberian Península coast. The results allow characterization and prediction of the beach profile morphology using the coefficients, associated to the wave energy dissipation and reflection, and its relationship with wave climate conditions and grain size.