United States Department of Defense
United States Army: Publications
Accessibility Remediation
If you are unable to use this item in its current form due to accessibility barriers, you may request remediation through our remediation request form.
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
2013
Citation
Coastal Engineering 77 (2013) 99–107; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2013.02.013
Abstract
Spectral energy dissipation of random waves due to salt marsh vegetation (Spartina alterniflora) was analyzed using field data collected during a tropical storm. Wave data (significant wave heights up to 0.4 m in 0.8 m depth) were measured over a two-day period along a 28 m transect using 3 pressure transducers. The storm produced largely bimodal spectra on the wetland, consisting of low-frequency swell (7–10 s) and high-frequency (2–4.5 s) wind-sea. The energy dissipation varied across the frequency scales with the largest magnitude observed near the spectral peaks, above which the dissipation gradually decreased. The wind-sea energy dissipated largely in the leading section of the instrument array in the wetland, but the low-frequency swell propagated to the subsequent section with limited energy loss. Across a spectrum, dissipation did not linearly follow incident energy, and the degree of non-linearity varied with the dominant wave frequency. A rigid-type vegetation model was used to estimate the frequency-dependent bulk drag coefficient. For a given spectrum, this drag coefficient increased gradually up to the peak frequency and remained generally at a stable value at the higher frequencies. This spectral variation was parameterized by employing a frequency-dependent velocity attenuation parameter inside the canopy. This parameter had much less variability among incident wave conditions, compared to the variability of the bulk drag coefficient, allowing its standardization into a single, frequency-dependent curve for velocity attenuation inside a canopy. It is demonstrated that the spectral drag coefficient predicts the frequency-dependent energy dissipation with more accuracy than the integral coefficient.