Prediction of Shoreline Evolution. Reliability of a General Model for the Mixed Beach Case

• Main Authors: Giuseppe R. Tomasicchio, Antonio Francone, David J. Simmonds, Felice D’Alessandro, Ferdinando Frega
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
• Subjects: longshore transport; morphodynamic model; field experiment; mixed beaches
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/5/361

In the present paper, after a sensitivity analysis, the calibration and verification of a novel morphodynamic model have been conducted based on a high-quality field experiment data base. The morphodynamic model includes a general formula to predict longshore transport and associated coastal morphology over short- and long-term time scales. With respect to the majority of the existing one-line models, which address sandy coastline evolution, the proposed General Shoreline beach model (GSb) is suitable for estimation of shoreline change at a coastal mound made of non-cohesive sediment grains/units as sand, gravel, cobbles, shingle and rock. In order to verify the reliability of the GSb model, a comparison between observed and calculated shorelines in the presence of a temporary groyne deployed at a mixed beach has been performed. The results show that GSb gives a good agreement between observations and predictions, well reproducing the coastal evolution.