Bore-Like Surf Beat on Reef Coasts

Abstract

Reef coasts, because the wave height of incoming stormy high waves are extremely dampened by coral reef, have been believed as calm sea areas. However, many coastal structures have actually been damaged by stormy waves dampened by the reef. Surf beat with large wave height was discovered through field observations. The surf beat has been named as "Bore-like Surf Beat". The wave height and the wave velocity of the Bore-like surf beat is larger than that of individual waves. Numerical simulation taking into account of non-linear effect of surf beat phenomenon on the reef shows good agreement with laboratory data.