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Kelp Forest Drag Coefficients Derived from Tidal Flow Data

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Abstract

We present an approach for estimating drag coefficients for depth-averaged tidal flows that uses the ratio of observed RMS velocities to the RMS velocities that would be observed without bottom friction. We find that this ratio, R, depends on a single non-dimensional number, \(P={C}_{D}C{\eta }_{0}/\omega {H}^{2}\), where CD is the drag coefficient, and C is the phase speed of a tidal wave with amplitude \({\eta }_{0}\) and frequency \(\omega\), in water of depth h. The function R(P) can be inverted to solve for CD using measured values of R. Taking advantage of a unique multi-year record of tidal flows on Isla Nativdad, Baja California, Mexico, during which time the kelp forest there varied between non-existent and dense, we use this method to quantify the effect of kelp biomass on drag. This analysis shows that a maximum value of CD ≈ 0.04 is reached for relatively low values of kelp biomass, which may be an effect of sheltering (reductions in the velocity creating drag due to the close proximity of bundles of kelp stipes). However, values as large as 0.015 were observed when the water column experienced strong secondary flows in the presence of strong density stratification. Given that the long-term measurements were made near a coastal headland, we argue that this may reflect variations in secondary flow strength due to stratification. Lastly, our measurements show little evidence of enhancement of drag by surface waves.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the fishers and staff of the cooperative Buzos y Pescadores without whom the data upon which this paper is based would never have been acquired, as well as our colleagues, Fio Micheli, Charlie Boch, Arturo Hernandez, Leonardo Vazquez-Vera, Geno Pawlak, and Jim Leichter.

Funding

The work we describe here was supported by NSF grants OCE 1736830, OCE-1736957, OCE 1737090, and OCE 2022927, and by an equipment grant from the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4020, USA

    Stephen Monismith, Maha Alnajjar & Margaret Daly

  2. Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32603, USA

    Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

  3. Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico

    Braulio Juarez

  4. College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Matheus Fagundes & C. Brock Woodson

  5. Department of Applied Ocean Physics & Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Tom Bell

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  1. Stephen Monismith
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Correspondence to Stephen Monismith.

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Communicated by David K. Ralston

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Monismith, S., Alnajjar, M., Daly, M. et al. Kelp Forest Drag Coefficients Derived from Tidal Flow Data. Estuaries and Coasts 45, 2492–2503 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-022-01098-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-022-01098-2

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