One of the key arguments made for coastal managed realignment has been the ability of mudflat and saltmarsh surfaces to act as a natural buffer zone, absorbing incident wave energy. However, the details of how, and how efficiently, this process takes place are poorly understood. This paper reports field measurements of wave processes across a cliffed mudflat - saltmarsh transition on the Dengie Peninsula, Essex, Greater Thames estuary, UK. It also considers how numerical wave models can be adapted to simulate the dissipative effect of the saltmarsh on wave climate. An example is given where the Collins friction coefficient in the SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) model is adapted to account for dissipation over saltmarsh surfaces.
展开▼
