Abstract
A fairly undeveloped barrier island along the mid-Atlantic coast, Onslow Beach, was exposed to two differing, yet sequential meteorological events in the fall of 2008. The response of the barrier island differed significantly enough to warrant investigation into the causes of aberrant overwash locations. Tropical Storm Hanna generated high significant wave heights for a short period of time and caused overwash events along the southern portion of Onslow Beach. The Nor’easter and subsequent wind shift after TS Hanna generated significant wave heights that were lower than during TS Hanna, yet more locations of overwash were recorded along the beach. Data from NOAA wave buoys and a nearshore deployed AWAC were analyzed to understand the underlying physics behind the recorded differences in barrier island response. These data were also used to validate a coupled hydrodynamic (ADCIRC) and waves (SWAN) model to investigate the alongshore variability. Low frequency variability, on the order of days, and tidal timing of shoreward high significant wave heights contributed to the recorded variability.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allard, R.A., Y.L. Hsu, J.M. Smith, and K. Miles. 2000. Validating a coupled suite of wave, tide, and surf models at Onslow Bay, 29. North Carolina: Naval Research Laboratory. Final Report NRL/FR/73720-00-9699.
Atkinson, J.H., J.J. Westerink, and J.M. Hervouet. 2004. Similarities between the wave equation and the quasi-bubble solutions to the shallow water equations. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids 45: 689–714.
Blain, C.A., J.J. Westerink, and R.A. Luettich. 1994. The influence of domain size on the response characteristics of a hurricane storm surge model. Journal of Geophysical Research 99(C9): 18467–18479.
Blain, C.A., J.J. Westerink, and R.A. Luettich. 1998. Grid convergence studies on the prediction of hurricane storm surge. International Journal Numerical Methods Fluids 26: 369–401.
Booij, N., R.C. Ris, and L.H. Holthuijsen. 1999. A third-generation wave model for coastal regions, Part 1, Model description and validation. Journal of Geophysical Research 104(C4): 7649–7666.
Bunya, S., J.C. Dietrich, J.J. Westerink, B.A. Ebersole, J.M. Smith, J.H. Atkinson, R. Jensen, D.T. Resio, R.A. Luettich, C. Dawson, V.J. Cardone, A.T. Cox, M.D. Powell, H.J. Westerink, and H.J. Roberts. 2010. A high-resolution coupled riverine flow, tide, wind, wind wave and storm surge model for Southern Louisiana and Mississippi: part I—model development and validation. Monthly Weather Review 138(2): 345–377. doi:10.1175/2009MWR2906.1.
Byrnes, M.R. and K.J. Gingerich. 1987. Cross-island profile response to Hurricane Gloria. In: Proceedings Coastal Sediments ’87 (New Orleans, Louisiana, ASCE), pp. 1486–1502.
Chen, Q., H. Zhao, K. Hu, and S.L. Douglass. 2005. Prediction of wind waves in a shallow estuary. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, July, 137–148.
Cleary, W.J. and P.E. Hosier. 1987. Onslow Beach, NC: Morphology and Stratigraphy. Proceedings Coastal Sediments ’87, New Orleans ,LA. P 1745–1759
Cleary, W.J. 1996. Environmental coastal geology. Cape Lookout to Cape Fear, 138. North Carolina: Carolina Geological Society.
Cleary, W.J., and S.R. Riggs. 1999. Beach erosion and hurricane protection plan for Onslow Beach, Camp Lejeune; Comprehensive geologic characteristics report. North Carolina: US Marine Corps, Camp Lejeune, NC Report, United States (USA).
Dietrich, J.C., S. Bunya, J.J. Westerink, B.A. Ebersole, J.M. Smith, J.H. Atkinson, R. Jensen, D.T. Resio, R.A. Luettich, C. Dawson, V.J. Cardone, A.T. Cox, M.D. Powell, H.J. Westerink, and H.J. Roberts. 2010. A high-resolution coupled riverine flow, tide, wind, wind wave and storm surge model for Southern Louisiana and Mississippi: part II—synoptic description and analysis of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Monthly Weather Review 138(2): 378–404. doi:10.1175/2009MWR2907.1.
Dietrich, J.C., J.J. Westerink, A.B. Kennedy, J.M. Smith, R.E. Jensen, M. Zijlema, L.H. Holthuijsen, C. Dawson, R.A. Luettich Jr., M.D. Powell, V.J. Cardone, A.T. Cox, G.W. Stone, H. Pourtaheri, M.E. Hope, S. Tanaka, L.G. Westerink, H.J. Westerink, and Z. Cobell. 2011a. Hurricane Gustav (2008) waves and Storm Surge: hindcast. Synoptic Analysis and Validation in Southern Louisiana, Monthly Weather Review 139: 2488–2522. doi:10.1175/2011MWR3611.1.
Dietrich, J.C., M. Zijlema, J.J. Westerink, L.H. Holthuijsen, C.N. Dawson, R.A. Luettich Jr., R.E. Jensen, J.M. Smith, G.S. Stelling, and G.W. Stone. 2011b. Modeling hurricane waves and storm surge using integrally-coupled, scalable computations. Coastal Engineer 58: 45–65.
Dietrich, J.C., S. Tanaka, J.J. Westerink, C.N. Dawson, R.A. Luettich Jr., M. Zijlema, L.H. Holthuijsen, J.M. Smith, L.G. Westerink, and H.J. Westerink. 2012. Performance of the unstructured-mesh, SWAN + ADCIRC model in computing hurricane waves and surge. Journal of Scientific Computing 52(2): 468–497. doi:10.1007/s10915-011-9555-6.
Dolan, R., and P. Godfrey. 1973. Effects of Hurricane Ginger on the barrier islands of North Carolina. Geological Society of America Bulletin 84: 1329–1334.
Donnelly, C., N. Kraus, and M. Larson. 2006. State of knowledge on measurement and modeling of coastal overwash. Journal of Coastal Research 22(4): 965–991.
Forbes, C., R.A. Luettich Jr., C.A. Mattocks, and J.J. Westerink. 2010. A retrospective evaluation of the storm surge produced by hurricane Gustave (2008): forecast and hindcast results. Weather Forecasting 25: 1577–1602.
Gorman, R.M., and C.G. Neilson. 1999. Modelling shallow water wave generation and transformation in an intertidal estuary. Coastal Engineering 36: 187–217.
Holthuijsen, L.H., A. Herman, and N. Booij. 2003. Phase-decoupled refraction–diffraction for spectral wave models. Coastal Engineering 49: 291–305.
Kolar, R., and W.G. Gray. 1990. Shallow water modeling in small water bodies. Proc. 8th Int. Conf. Comp. Meth. Water Res, 149–155. Berlin: Springer.
Kolar, R.L., J.J. Westerink, M.E. Cantekin, and C.A. Blain. 1994. Aspects of nonlinear simulations using shallow water models based on the wave continuity equation. Computers and Fluids 23: 523–538.
Lin, W., L.P. Sanford, and S.E. Suttles. 2002. Wave measurement and modeling in Chesapeake Bay. Continental Shelf Research 22: 2673–2686.
Luettich, R.A., J.J. Westerink, and N.W. Scheffner. 1992. ADCIRC: an advanced three-dimensional circulation model for shelves, coasts, and estuaries, Report 1: Theory and Methodology of ADCIRC-2DDI and ADCIRC-3DL. Technical Report DRP-92-6, 137. Vicksburg: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experimental Station.
Morton, R.A., J.C. Gibeaut, and J.G. Paine. 1995. Meso-scale transfer of sand during and after storms: implications for prediction of shoreline movement. Marine Geology 126: 161–179.
RTI. 2009. DCERP Annual Technical Report II: March 2008-February 2009 Executive Summary. https://dcerp.rti.org/Portals/0/SI1413_DCERP_ARII_ES.pdf.
Sallenger, A.H. 2000. Storm impact scale for barrier islands. Journal of Coastal Research 16(3): 890–895.
Schwartz, R.K. 1975. Nature and genesis of some storm washover deposits. Technical Memorandum 61., Ft. Belvoir, 99. Virginia: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coasal Engineering Research Center.
Skamarock, W.C., J. B. Klemo, J. Dudhia, D. O. Gill, D. M. Barker, W. Wang, and J.G. Power. 2005. A description of Advanced Research WRF Version 2. NCAR Technical Note. NCAR/TN-468 STR.
Stockdon, H.R., R.A. Holman, P.A. Howd, and A.H. Sallenger Jr. 2006. Empirical parameterization of setup, swash, and runup. Coastal Engineering 53: 573–588.
Stone, G.W., B. Liu, D.A. Pepper, and P. Wang. 2004. The importance of extratropical and tropical cycles on the short-term evolution of barrier islands along the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA. Marine Geology 210: 63–78.
Theuerkauf, E.J., and A.B. Rodriguez. 2012. Impacts of transect location and variations in along-beach morphology on measuring volume change. Journal of Coastal Research 28(3): 707–718.
Westerink, J. J., C. A. Blain, R. A. Luettich and N. W. Scheffner. 1994a. ADCIRC: An Advanced Three-Dimensional Circulation Model for Shelves, Coasts, and Estuaries, Report 2: User’s Manual for ADCIRC-2DDI. Technical Report DRP-92, Department of the Army.
Westerink, J.J., R.A. Luettich, and J.C. Muccino. 1994b. Modeling tides in the western north Atlantic using unstructured graded grids. Tellus 46A: 178–199.
Westerink, J.J., R.A. Luettich Jr., J.C. Feyen, J.H. Atkinson, C. Dawson, M.D. Powell, J.P. Dunion, H.J. Roberts, E.J. Kubatko, and H. Pourtaheri. 2008. A basin- to channel- scale unstructured grid hurricane storm surge model as implemented for Southern Louisiana. Monthly Weather Review 136: 833–864. doi:10.1175/2007MWR1946.
Zijlema, M. 2010. Computation of wind–wave spectra in coastal waters with SWAN on unstructured grids. Coastal Engineering 57: 267–77.
Acknowledgments
This research was conducted under the Defense Coastal/Estuarine Research Program (DCERP), funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). Views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not be construed as an official U.S. Department of Defense position or decision unless so designated by other official documentation. The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer and Dr. Carl T. Friedrichs for providing insightful suggestions to enhance the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reynolds-Fleming, J.V., Luettich, R.A. & Fleming, J.G. Comparative Hydrodynamics during Events along a Barrier Island: Explanation for Overwash. Estuaries and Coasts 36, 334–346 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9578-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9578-8