Author(s): Jan Hitzegrad; Christian Windt; Oliver Lojek; Nils Goseberg
Linked Author(s): Nils Goseberg
Keywords: Oyster Reefs; Surrogate Modeling; Hydraulic Roughness; Turbulence Production; Nature-based Coastal Protection
Abstract: Oyster reefs exhibit the potential to attenuate wave energy, presenting an intriguing opportunity for integration into nature-based coastal protection systems. Frictional dissipation caused by the ultra-rough surfaces (Fig. 1A) significantly contributes to the wave attenuation by oyster reefs, particularly in spatially extensive reefs, e. g., formed by the invasive Pacific oyster in the Wadden Sea in Northern Europe (Hitzegrad et al., 2022; Morris et al., 2021). Despite the general knowledge of their wave-attenuating potential (Borsje et al., 2011), the mechanisms causing the wave energy dissipation, in particular bed friction, have not been comprehensively investigated yet. Physical modeling using scaled oyster reef surrogate models with parameterized roughnesses has thus been employed to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental hydraulic processes. This work attempts a comparison of different approaches to parameterize and manufacture ultra-rough oyster reef surfaces for physical modeling and presents an analysis of their wave-attenuating effects.
Year: 2024