Project Summary

Breakwaters are hard structures built out into a body of water to protect a coast or harbor from the force of waves and are used to protect shorelines from waves and limit coastal erosion.  In harbors, breakwaters provide calmer water to ease both navigation and berthing for vessels by blocking and dissipating wave energy. In a large harbor, the fetch may be sufficient for the local generation of waves to be important. Accurate representation of these processes is essential to the determination of coastal circulation and wave processes. However, studying these influences in the field poses a challenge. In recent years, spectral wave models have become more widely used and are important in describing coastal wave behavior. However, the performance and precision of these models in real harbors in the presence of the breakwaters has not been well examined.

This CIRCA Research Project used two wave models, which are used widely in coastal research and engineering applications. Available observations were used to evaluate the accuracy of model simulations of waves in New Haven Harbor, an estuary with three detached breakwaters near the mouth. At this location, while both models were largely consistent with observations during storms, one model predicted some of storm peaks slightly better. In addition, the sensitivity analysis represents that wind forcing and the breakwaters have significant impact on the results.  This study suggests the results of the two models were consistent with observations during storms affected by the breakwaters. Results of this study compare and contrast the two models under different simulations.

Product

Final Report Published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 2018

Suggested Citation:

Ilia, Amin; O'Donnell, James. 2018. "An Assessment of Two Models of Wave Propagation in an Estuary Protected by Breakwaters." J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 6, no. 4: 145.

Project Team Members

• James O'Donnell, UConn Marine Sciences, UConn CIRCA
• Amin Ilia, UConn Marine Sciences