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Theoretical solutions for the wave bottom boundary layer (WBL) over a sloping bed are compared with field measurements in the nearshore zone. The WBL theory is constructed using both viscoelastic-diffusion and conventional eddy viscosity turbulent closure models. The velocity solutions are then matched with those of the interior flow, given by Chu and Mei potential theory for surface gravity waves over a sloping bottom. The field measurements were obtained with a coherent Doppler profiler over a 2° bed slope. Results are presented for both flat and rippled bed conditions, the latter being characterized by low steepness, linear transition ripples. Close to the bed, the observed velocity profiles change rapidly in amplitude and phase relative to potential flow theory, indicating the presence of a wave boundary layer with a thickness of 3-6 cm. The observed velocity and shear stress profiles are in good agreement with the theory. The sloping bottom has significant effects on the vertical velocity, but not on the horizontal velocity and shear stress. Bottom roughness and friction velocity are estimated from optimizing the model-data comparisons. The friction velocities and wave friction factors are found to be consistent with values obtained from the momentum integral method and from the nearbed turbulence intensity, and with Tolman's semiempirical formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wave friction factors are estimated from vertical profiles of near-bed turbulence and horizontal velocity spanning the wave bottom boundary layer. Measured values are partitioned by bed state, which ranged from irregular ripples to flat bed, and are examined as a function of two traditionally selected parameters—physical bed roughness and outer flow Reynolds number. The measurements are from two field experiments in very different nearshore environments: a relatively protected unbarred pocket beach and a linear barred beach exposed to the open shelf (Duck). Measured wave friction factors are remarkably similar for the two beaches and are highest for low-energy rippled beds and lowest for the high-energy flat bed conditions. The reduction in the friction factor for high-energy conditions corresponds to a decrease in the physical roughness of the bed as wave energy increases. As a function of relative roughness, measured friction factors are generally consistent with previous laboratory results and theoretical results for the high-energy cases, but the predicted values for the low-energy rippled beds show some significant differences. A new expression is derived for the bed roughness and is found to have a stronger dependence on ripple steepness than previously suggested laboratory-based relationships. Estimated friction factors exhibit a power-law dependence on Reynolds number and occupy a narrow band within the rough turbulent and transition regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pulse-to-pulse coherent acoustic Doppler profiler has been developed for high-resolution particle velocimetry in the ocean, in particular for remote measurements of suspended sediment flux and turbulence in the nearshore and continental shelf bottom boundary layer. Acoustic backscatter estimates of suspended particle concentration and velocity are determined simultaneously from the phase and amplitude of the backscattered signal over an O(1 m)-long profile with subcentimeter resolution, at an ensemble-averaged rate of O(25 Hz). To characterize the performance of the profiler as a remote turbulent flux sensor, laboratory experiments were carried out in a particle-laden high--Reynolds number round jet. The results include comparisons between the acoustic Doppler and standard laboratory sensors, and to previous experimental and theoretical results for turbulent jets. The observed mean radial particle flux profile is found to be consistent with the computed mean flux profile for a turbulent jet. The measured entrainment rate is within 10% of the accepted value for turbulent round jets. Energy spectra of the turbulent motions demonstrate the 25/3 slope characteristic of the inertial subrange. The kinetic energy spectral densities obtained with the Doppler profiler match observations with a Sontek acoustic Doppler velocimeter and are in qualitative agreement with hotfilm measurements within the jet. Space--time domain images of particle flux exhibit well-defined coherent structures. Cospectral analysis demonstrates that these larger structures dominate the particle flux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]