Abstract
Over short periods of time, extreme storms can significantly alter barrier island morphology, increasing the vulnerability of coastal habitats and communities relative to future storms. These impacts are complex and the result of interactions between oceanographic conditions and the geomorphic, geological, and ecological characteristics of the island. A 2D XBeach model was developed and compared to observations in order to study these interactions along an undeveloped barrier island near the landfall of Hurricane Florence in 2018. Beachface water levels during the storm were obtained from two cross-shore arrays of pressure sensors for comparison to model hydrodynamics. Aerial drone imagery was used to derive pre-storm and post-storm elevation data in order to quantify spatially varying erosion and overwash. Sediment grain size was measured in multiple locations, and we estimated spatially varying friction by using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. The high spatial and temporal resolution of satellite imagery provided an efficient method for incorporating pre-storm spatially varying land cover. While previous studies have focused on the use of spatially varying friction, we found that the utilization of local median grain sizes and full directional wave spectra was critical to reproducing observed overwash extent.
Highlights
IntroductionProminent coastal features around the world such as barrier islands provide substantial value to surrounding areas through ecosystem and protective services (e.g., habitat for threatened species and buffer mainland areas from wave energy [1]) and economic opportunities (e.g., recreation and tourism [2])
Prominent coastal features around the world such as barrier islands provide substantial value to surrounding areas through ecosystem and protective services and economic opportunities
Growing coastal populations and tourism demands have necessitated the protection of coastal resources and infrastructure [2,6] from impacts associated with changing oceanographic forcings including extreme storms and relative sea-level rise (RLSR)
Summary
Prominent coastal features around the world such as barrier islands provide substantial value to surrounding areas through ecosystem and protective services (e.g., habitat for threatened species and buffer mainland areas from wave energy [1]) and economic opportunities (e.g., recreation and tourism [2]) These benefits are highly dynamic and are based on changes in barrier island morphology that occur over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, with changes driven by natural and anthropogenic causes [3]. Growing coastal populations and tourism demands have necessitated the protection of coastal resources and infrastructure [2,6] from impacts associated with changing oceanographic forcings including extreme storms and relative sea-level rise (RLSR) While they lack infrastructure, undeveloped barrier islands are influenced by coastal engineering practices of adjacent coastal areas (e.g., hard structures limiting longshore sediment transport, inlet dredging, etc.). These management actions may change the vulnerability of particular areas or habitats along a barrier island necessitating the development of tools for use by coastal managers to guide decisions and potentially increase island resiliency
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