NUMERICAL ANALYSIS ON THE INFLUENCE OF SANDBAR CONFIGURATIONS ON THE WAVE TRANSFORMATION AT ISHIKAWA COAST, JAPAN

Abstract

 The characteristics of wave transformation behind multiple sandbars developed at Ishikawa Coast, Japan, are investigated based on the COULWAVE model by Lynett et al. (2002). Systematic computations are conducted against the long-term bathymetric records over 50 years. The numerical results for the same morphology but different incident wave height indicate that the influence of incident wave intensity on the wave height behind the bar zone is weakened by the existence of offshore sandbars. On the other hand, the results for the same wave property but different bar configuration indicate that the cross-shore variability of wave height depends on sandbar configurations significantly. For largest waves at the site, it is shown that the transmitted wave height behind the outer-most bar can be varied in a cyclic manner in relation to the periodical migration of sandbars even if the offshore wave height is the same.