Wave Attenuation in Coastal Mangroves: the case of Mekong Delta Vietnam

Abstract

Mangrove generally plays an important role in dissipating the energy of high waves and storm surges, thereby it protects the coast from erosion. In the context of climate change, the impact from water related phenomena seems to be increased, therefore mangrove is considered as the most effective and environment friendly solution. This research focuses on assessing the effectiveness of wave energy reducing of mangrove at the Bac Lieu coast in Southern Vietnam by implementing the XBeach 2D numerical model combined with field survey. To investigate the mangrove evolution during time, the satellite images are used to analyze for mapping the mangrove zone. The final results indicate that there are factors which significantly affect the efficiency of wave reducing including the mangrove density, mangrove band width, incoming wave height and the local water depth. Especially, specific areas which are vulnerable due to the lack of mangrove forest are well identified in the 2D model comparing to XBeach 1D.