Video Monitoring of Shoreline Positions in Hujeong Beach, Korea

Abstract

Shoreline processes observed by a video monitoring system were investigated under different wave conditions. A 30 m-high tower equipped with video cameras was constructed in Hujeong Beach, South Korea, where coastal erosion was suspected to occur. Two-year shoreline data since December 2016 showed that beach area, Ab, has decreased, but periods of rapid increase in Ab were also observed. Shoreline change was closely related to the wave propagation directions and bottom topography. Ab increased when waves approached the shore obliquely, whereas it decreased when they approached in a normal direction. The shoreline became undulated when Ab increased, while it became flatter when Ab decreased. The undulation process was influenced by nearshore bedforms because the shoreline protruded in the lee area where underwater rocks or nearshore sandbars actively developed, with a sheltering effect on waves. Specifically, the locations of shoreline accretion corresponded to the locations where the sandbar horns (location where a crescentic sandbar protrudes toward the shore) developed, confirming the out-of-phase coupling between sandbars and shoreline. When waves with higher energy approached normal to the shore, the sheltering effect of sandbars and underwater rocks became weaker and offshore sediment transport occurred uniformly along the coast, resulting in flatter shorelines.