Lidar observations of the swash zone of a low-tide terraced tropical beach under variable wave conditions: The Nha Trang (Vietnam) COASTVAR experiment

A field experiment was conducted at a tropical microtidal intermediate sandy beach with a low tide terrace (Nha Trang, Vietnam) to investigate the short-term swash-zone hydrodynamics and morphodynamics under variable wave conditions. Continuous 2D Lidar scanner observations of wave height at the lower foreshore, subsequent run-up and swash-induced topographic changes were obtained. These data were complemented by detailed real-time kinematic GPS topographic surveys. Variable wave and tide conditions were experienced during the field experiment with relatively large swell waves (offshore significant wave height, H_s = 0.9 m to 1.3 m; peak wave period, T_p = 8 to 12 s) concomitant with spring tides at the beginning of the period, followed by mild wind waves (offshore H_s under 0.5 m and T_p 5 s) and neap tides. This resulted in the following morphological sequence: berm erosion followed by rapid neap berm reformation and beach recovery within a few days. New insights into the link between intra-tidal swash dynamics and daily beach profile evolution were found using the Lidar dataset. While waves directly cause morphology changes on a wave-by-wave basis, tidal levels were found to be a key factor in determining the morphological wave-effect (accretive or erosive) due to modulated interaction between surf and swash hydro-morphodynamics.