PREFACE 



This report is published to provide coastal engineers with an analysis 

 of the relationship between wave and meteorological variables and beach 

 morphology during summer and winter periods, 1971-72, at Plum Island, 

 Massachusetts. The work was carried out under the coastal processes 

 program of the U.S. Army Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) . 



The report was prepared by Ralph Warren Abele, Jr., while with the 

 Coastal Research Center (CRC) , Department of Geology, University of 

 Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, under CERC Contract No. DACW72- 

 71-C-0023. M.O. Hayes of CRC supervised the research project. R. Gonter 

 and J. Hill were responsible for modifying and writing computer programs 

 from research grants provided by the University of Massachusetts Research 

 Computing Center. W.T. Fox, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 

 also wrote several computer programs and assisted in the field techniques 

 and data analysis. 



M.J. Girard, D.K. Hubbard, W.L. Kiendzior, and R.G. Piepul gave con- 

 siderable effort to the field study. The author is grateful to the var- 

 ious members of CRC who helped run beach profiles after the February 1972 

 "northeaster," especially to F.J. Raffaldi who assisted in most of the 

 photographic work. Appreciation is extended to J.M. Colonell and J.F. 

 Hubert for critically reviewing the manuscript. 



S.J. Williams, CERC, provided technical and liaison support for 

 the report, under the general supervision of Dr. David Duane, former 

 Chief, Geology Branch (now Geotechnical Engineering Branch) , Engineering 

 Development Division. 



Comments on this publication are invited. 



Approved for publication in accordance with Public Law 166, 79th 

 Congress, approved 31 July 1945, as supplemented by Public Law 172, 

 88th Congress, approved 7 November 1963. 



*££, 



JOHN H. COUSINS 



Colonel, Corps of Engineers 



Commander and Director 



