Sediment budget: principals and applications

Abstract

The framework of sediment budget concepts provides a formalized procedureto account for the various components of sediment flux and the changes ofvolume that occur within a given region. Sediment budget methodology can beuseful in a number of coastal engineering and research applications,including: inferring the amount of onshore sediment transport for a nearshoresystem that contains an "excess of sediment", determining sediment deficits todowndrift beaches as a result of engineering works at navigational entrances,evaluating the performance of a beach nourishment project, inferring thedistribution of longshore sediment transport across the surf zone, etc.This chapter reviews briefly the governing equations for sediment budgetcalculations, considers various measurement and other bases for determiningthe sediment flux components necessary to apply the sediment budget conceptand finally for illustration purposes, applies the sediment budget concept toseveral examples. (PDF contains 52 pages.)