1 Introduction 



The Field Research Facility (FRF) of the US Army Engineer Waterways Experiment 

 Station, Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC), was established in 1977 to support 

 CERC's field investigations. An important part of the FRF operation has been the collection 

 of long-term data. A measurement program monitors local oceanographic and meteorological 

 conditions at the FRF. Daily measurements are made of wind speed, wind direction, air 

 temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, waves, currents, tide and water levels, water 

 temperature, surface water visibility, water density, and beach condition. These daily 

 measurements are published in a series of monthly and annual data summaries (e.g.. Field 

 Research Facility 1992, Leffler et al. 1992). Biweekly beach and nearshore surveys and 

 biannual aerial photographic 

 overflights are also 

 performed (Birkemeier et al. 

 1985). This report presents 

 the 7 years (1985-1991) of 

 profile data and the 

 concurrent wave and water- 

 level data as a continuation 

 of the first 4 years (1981- 

 1984) of profile data 

 reported by Howd and 

 Birkemeier (1987). 



The FRF is located near 

 the middle of Currituck Spit 

 along a 100-km unbroken 

 stretch of shoreline 

 extending south of Rudee 

 Inlet, VA, to Oregon Inlet, 

 NC (Figure 1). This area 

 has relatively straight, 

 simple nearshore 

 bathymetry, so that the long- 

 term profile response can 

 realistically be considered in 

 a two-dimensional manner. 



The FRF beach contains Figure 1 . Location of the Field Research Facility 

 Chapter 1 Introduction 



