SHOALING, BREAKING AND BROKEN WAVE CHARACTERISTICS

This paper presents the development of a model for the prediction of shoaling wave characteristics up to the point of breaking and their further evolution, including wave set-up, as they break and travel across the surf zone as broken waves. The model is based on the concept of an equivalent linear wave, but non-linear wave heights and selected near-bottom orbital velocity features may be reconstructed from the prediction of the equivalent linear wave characteristics. The beach profile may be plane and of constant slope or it may be barred, and the waves may be periodic or random. Model predictions are compared to and show excellent agreement with experimental observations which were not used in the model's development.