Infragravity Wave Motions in the Scheldt Region

Abstract

This study focuses on the infragravity (IG) waves at 5 measurement sites (Brouwershavense Gat 2 (BG2), Oosterschelde 4 (OS4), Cadzand, Hansweert and Bath) in the Scheldt region, examining their characteristics in these waters as well as to what extent they can be modelled using SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore). To facilitate this, data collected during the occurrence of four storms (Corrie, Dudley, Eunice and Franklin) that traversed the North Sea in January and February 2022 has been used.

A spectral analysis has been used to provide insight into the IG and sea-swell (SS) wave field. To this extent, the significant wave height for the IG (0.005 – 0.04 Hz) and SS (0.04 – 0.33 Hz) frequency bands have been derived, in addition to the storm averaged wave period. Measurement device BG2 documented the largest storm averaged significant wave height for both the IG and SS frequency bands (0.256 m and 3.46 m during storm Corrie, respectively). The measurement device with the smallest storm averaged significant waveheight values was Hansweert, which measured 0.024 m and 0.217 m for the IG and SS wave frequencies, also during storm Corrie. Most of the wave energy for the measurement devices in the Western Scheldt, Hansweert and Bath, can be attributed to waves with frequency values larger than the upper boundary for SS waves (T < 3 s). The fraction of the total wave energy contained within the IG and SS frequency bands ranged from 0.1 to 0.56 for these two measurement devices. Conversely, the IG and SS frequency bands contain 0.81 to 0.96 of the total wave energy for measurement device Cadzand, BG2 and OS4. The correlation between the IG and SS significant wave heights is mostly strong for the BG2, OS4 and Cadzand measurement devices (0.657 to 0.956) and generally moderate for Hansweert and Bath (0.474 to 0.87), with one outlier equivalent to 0.128). A bispectral analysis was used to offer more insight regarding the components contributing to the total IG wave field. The results at Bath proved to be erroneous for all storms except Corrie, as the derived free IG (FIG) contribution was negative. The origin remains unclear, although it appears to be related to unexplained spurious bursts in the wave elevation signal. The bispectral analysis for the remainder of the locations lead to maximum TIG wave heights ranging from 0.05 m to 0.12 m for Hansweert, 0.15 m to 0.39 m for BG2, 0.11 m to 0.35 m for OS4 and 0.21 m to 0.34 m for Cadzand for the 4 storms. The contribution of the bound IG (BIG) and FIG energy at Bath and Hansweert appears to fluctuate heavily, undergoing rapid changes on an hourly basis. For BG2, OS4 and Cadzand, the FIG energy contribution is strongly dominant as it generally amounted to > 0.75 of the TIG energy.

The capabilities of the SWAN model were evaluated by simulating FIG waves in the North Sea basin. The model relates incident SS wave energy to reflected FIG wave energy with FIG source lines based on the reflection parametrization of Ardhuin et al. (2014). The hourly SS wave inputs were provided by Copernicus Marine Service. The predictive skill was used to qualitatively assess to what extent the model is able to reproduce FIG waves in the Scheldt region. The model was unable to correctly predict the FIG waves Hansweert and Bath, where the predictive skill values for all storms ranged from 0.0003 to 0.0009 for Hansweert, and were 0 for Bath. Better predictive skill values were obtained for BG2 (0.5044 to 0.6565), OS4 (0.3327 to 0.4293) and Cadzand (0.6466 to 0.7510), but there is still room for improvement. The lacking skill values can be attributed to not enough FIG wave energy being able to penetrate the estuarine waters. Reflective lines were implemented along the coastline of the Western Scheldt in an attempt to force more FIG energy into the estuary. This only led to a minor increase for the predictive skill values (O(0.002) for Hansweert, 0 for Bath and O(0.0001) for BG2, OS4 and Cadzand) but from a spatial standpoint, it appears that there are locations in the estuary where the absolute increase was O(0.02), which is significant as there are areas in the estuary where the significant FIG wave height has doubled as a consequence of the implementation of the reflective lines.