Effect of infra-gravity waves on nearshore morphodynamics in the east coast: Case study – Ilsan beach

Abstract

It is widely known that infragravity waves can exert significant influence on wave run-up over beaches. Large run-ups can lead to overwash, flooding and severe coastal erosion. In spite of the importance of infragravity waves in relation to wave run-up and coastal erosion, few studies have been carried out with regard to the impact of infragravity waves on nearshore morphodynamics with respect to eastern beaches in Korea. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of infragravity waves in nearshore numerical modelling. For the study, XBeach model was set up to analyze morphodynamics in December 2016, in Ilsan beach which is located in Ilsan-dong, Ulsan Metropolitan City. After validation of the XBeach model, numerical experiments were conducted by using various directional spreading coefficients. As the directional spreading coefficients are increased, the effect of infragravity waves is also enhanced by narrowband frequency. With the increasing effect of infragravity waves, the amount of sediment transport is also increased and an erosion dominant pattern is found in the south part of Ilsan beach and a deposition pattern in the north part of the beach mainly due to the wave incident direction of NNE. © 2018, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute. All rights reserved.