Introduction to SUPERTANK: A Crown Jewel of Coastal Data Collection This book presents the SUPERTANK Laboratory Data Collection Project, a large, multi?institutional effort to study beach erosion, sediment transport, and cross?shore hydrodynamics using a wide, state?of?the?art wave channel. It explains how researchers measured waves, currents, and sediment changes under controlled laboratory conditions to support better predictive models.
The volume focuses on narrative chapters written by the investigators who led the work. It describes the evolution of SUPERTANK, the capabilities of the Oregon State University wave research facility, and the role of large facilities in advancing coastal engineering science. Readers will learn how data collection was planned, executed, and analyzed to illuminate beach profile changes and sediment transport processes.
- How a mobile carriage and diverse sensors were used to document sediment suspension across the surf zone
- Instrumentation and data acquisition setups, including wave generation, current profilers, and pore pressure measurements
- Analysis approaches for interpreting complex, highly dynamic nearshore flows
- Lessons learned to guide future instrument design and measurement strategies
Ideal for readers seeking a historical, technical look at laboratory methods for coastal processes and how large-scale experiments inform modeling and prediction.