Longshore Transmission of Reflected Waves

Abstract

A method is presented for determining the longshore travel distance of wave energy reflected from a coastal structure. These reflected waves may become trapped by refraction, causing reflected wave energy to impact the coastline some distance from the structure. The reflected waves may have a localized effect on coastal processes by adding wave energy to the incident waves along a reach of the coastline, and cause localized erosion as the shoreline adjusts its orientation to reach equilibrium with the reflected waves. The method incorporates consideration of the wave period, and gives results for directional spreading due to wave frequency. A plane bottom slope is assumed. The theoretical development is described and an example is given to illustrate the method. The method presented provides a quick, first‐order solution that is an improvement on earlier methodology.