MICORE: DUNE EROSION AND OVERWASH MODEL VALIDATION WITH DATA FROM NINE EUROPEAN FIELD SITES

In this paper we present the first results of beach profile hindcasting with XBeach using recently measured coastal data acquired under storm conditions at eight European sites, including a comparison to model results obtained with off-the-shelf models. The results show consistently that the XBeach has skill in predicting the coastal profile, albeit that in most cases the erosion around the mean water line is overpredicted and the depositions at the lower beach face are overpredicted. The causes for this model effect are under active investigation but not resolved yet. Likely candidates are the modeling of onshore (asymmetry) transports which reduces the offshore transports due to undertow (currents) or the modeling of sediment motion in the swash zone.