SUPERDUCK SURF ZONE SAND TRANSPORT EXPERIMENT 



PART I: INTRODUCTION 



Purpose and Scope of Report 



1. This report describes procedures and results of field data collec- 

 tion projects performed to measure the longshore sand transport rate in the 

 surf zone as a part of the SUPERDUCK field data collection project. The 

 experiments described herein were conducted from 11 to 23 September 1986. 

 Certain introductory sections of this report have been taken directly from a 

 companion report by Kraus , Gingerich, and Rosati (1989), who describe the 

 DUCK85 field data collection project. The objective of these sand transport 

 experiments was to measure synoptically the longshore sand transport rate 

 together with the physical factors that produce and control the sand movement, 

 including local waves, longshore current, water level, and nearshore bathy- 

 metry. A range of wave and current conditions occurred during the SUPERDUCK 

 data collection, resulting in an extensive data set on temporal variations in 

 the longshore sand transport rate at points in the surf zone and vertical 

 distributions through the water column. 



2. This report is intended to provide complete documentation of the 

 SUPERDUCK surf zone sand transport experiment, including a compilation of the 

 data. Information is given on experiment equipment and methodology to allow 

 critical examination of techniques used. Data given include transport rates, 

 current speeds, wave heights and periods, grain size distributions, water 

 levels, and arrangement of the experiments. Supplementary data on meteorology 

 and offshore wave conditions are given, and reference is made to sources of 

 more complete information. 



Background 



3. Estimates of the longshore sand transport rate are required in a 

 multitude of projects involving shore protection, beach nourishment, and 

 harbor and navigation channel maintenance. In addition, during the past 

 decade considerable progress has been made in numerical modeling of nearshore 



