Seasonal to Interannual Morphodynamics along a High-Energy Dissipative Littoral Cell

Abstract

RUGGIERO, P.; KAMINSKY, G.M.; GELFENBAUM, G., and VOIGT, B., 2005. Seasonal to interannual morphodynamics along a high-energy dissipative littoral cell. Journal of Coastal Research, 21(3), 553‐578. West Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. A beach morphology monitoring program was initiated during summer 1997 along the Columbia River littoral cell (CRLC) on the coasts of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington, USA. This field program documents the seasonal through interannual morphological variability of these high-energy dissipative beaches over a variety of spatial scales. Following the installation of a dense network of geodetic control monuments, a nested sampling scheme consisting of cross-shore topographic beach profiles, three-dimensional topographic beach surface maps, nearshore bathymetric surveys, and sediment size distribution analyses was initiated. Beach monitoring is being conducted with stateof-the-art real-time kinematic differential global positioning system survey methods that combine both high accuracy and speed of measurement. Sampling methods resolve variability in beach morphology at alongshore length scales of approximately 10 meters to approximately 100 kilometers and cross-shore length scales of approximately 1 meter to approximately 2 kilometers. During the winter of 1997/1998, coastal change in the US Pacific Northwest was greatly