Coastal Processes (Wit Transactions on Ecology and the Environment)

This book contains research presented at the International Conference on Physical Coastal Processes, Management and Engineering.

The unrelenting demand on the coast by recreational and tourism activities has increased the need for shore and beach protection as well as the construction of artificial beaches, ports and harbors. Many coastlines are subjected to the direct impact of wind, swell and storm wave activity. As a result, wind-and wave-driven currents are the dominant mechanisms controlling littoral sand transport and determining the nearshore
morphology. In addition, many other physical phenomena, such as tides and
associated currents, long waves and storm surges, can play a significant role
in the dynamic behaviour of the coastal zone. Special relevance must also be
attributed to extreme events.

Distinctive features of coastal zone dynamics are not only due to the
nearshore hydrodynamics, but also to the complex local behavior of the
atmosphere. Understanding the meteorology of the coastal zone is complicated by the inherent heterogeneity of its atmospheric boundary layer, due to the
irregularity of the coastal topography and the different land sea surface
roughness and thermal properties. As a result, complex interactions occur
between the atmosphere, ocean and land, inducing large temporal and spatial variations in air-sea exchange processes and wind strength and direction.