DUCKS 5 SURF ZONE SAND TRANSPORT EXPERIMENT 



PART I: INTRODUCTION 



Background 



1. This report describes procedures and results of a field experiment 

 performed to measure the longshore sand transport rate in the surf zone as 

 part of the DUCK85 field data collection project. The objective was to 

 measure synoptically the longshore sand transport rate together with the 

 environmental factors that produced and controlled the sand movement, 

 including local waves, longshore current, water level, and beach bathjnmetry. 

 Samples were retained to determine grain size distributions of the transported 

 sand. The experiment was highly successful due to favorable wave and current 

 conditions resulting in an extensive data set on the distributions of the 

 longshore sand transport rate across the surf zone and through the water 

 column. 



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

 DUCK85 surf zone sand transport experiments, 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, beach profiles, grain size, water 

 level, 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. 



Motivation 



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 

 waves, currents, and beach change. Beach morphology response models are 

 moving from the research level to the practical level as engineering design 



