Giovanni Besio

On the formation of sand waves and sand banks

A fully three-dimensional model is proposed for the generation of tidal sand waves and sand banks from small bottom perturbations of a flat seabed subject to tidal currents. The model predicts the conditions leading to the appearance of both tidal sand waves and sand banks and determines their main geometrical characteristics. A finite wavelength of both sand waves and sand banks is found around the critical conditions, thus opening the possibility of performing a weakly nonlinear stability analysis able to predict the equilibrium amplitude of the bottom forms. As shown by previous works on the subject, the sand wave crests turn out to be orthogonal to the direction of the main tidal current. The present results also show that in the Northern Hemisphere sand bank crests are clockwise or counter-clockwise rotated with respect to the main tidal current depending on the counter-clockwise or clockwise rotation of the velocity vector induced by the tide. Only for unidirectional or quasi-unidirectional tidal currents are sand banks always counter-clockwise rotated. The predictions of the model are supported by comparisons with field data. Finally, the mechanisms leading to the appearance of sand waves and sand banks are discussed in the light of the model findings. In particular, it is shown that the growth of sand banks is not only induced by the depth-averaged residual circulation which is present around the bedforms and is parallel to the crests of the bottom forms: a steady drift of the sediment from the troughs towards the crests is also driven by the steady velocity component orthogonal to the crests which is present close to the bottom and can be quantified only by a three-dimensional model. While the former mechanism appears to trigger the formation of counter-clockwise sand banks only, the latter mechanism can give rise to both counter-clockwise and clockwise rotated sand banks.

A note on tidally generated sand waves

The process leading to the formation of sand waves in tide dominated coastal areas is investigated by means of the linear stability analysis of a flat sandy bottom subject to oscillatory tidal currents. The conditions for the decay or amplification of small bottom perturbations are determined for arbitrary values of the parameters of the problem. According to field observations, the initial growth of sand waves requires a minimum amplitude of the tidal current, even when the critical bed shear stress for the initial motion of sediment is set equal to zero. Moreover the minimum amplitude depends on sediment characteristics. In particular, the analysis shows that sand waves appear only for a sandy bottom and their growth does not take place when a coarse sediment covers the sea bed. The solution procedure extends the truncation method which is often used to describe the flow generated by the interaction of bottom perturbations with the oscillatory tidal current. The obtained results show that the truncation method describes the mechanism inducing the growth of sand waves, but values of the parameters exist for which its results are not quantitatively accurate. Finally, the asymptotic approach for large values of both r ,w hich isthe ratio between the amplitude of the horizontal tidal excursion and the wavelength of the bottom perturbations, and of the stress parameter s is modified in the bottom boundary layer to describe cases characterized by values of s of order one, which is the order of magnitude suggested by an analysis of field data.

Developing and validating a forecast/hindcast system for the Mediterranean Sea

ABSTRACT Mentaschi L., Besio G., Cassola G. and Mazzino A., 2013. Developing and validating a forecast/hindcast system for the Mediterranean Sea In this work a study of the performances of the WAVEWATCH III (WWIII) model in the Mediterranean basin is presented. Analysis is carried out referring to seventeen case studies corresponding to heavy storms in northern Tyrrhenian basin (Ligurian sea) in the last twenty five years. Simulation results are validated using buoy data provided by the Rete Ondametrica Nazionale (RON). An analysis of the usage and performances of different statistical error indicators is provided, showing that widespread NRMSE indicator is biased towards models that underestimate prediction. The well established source terms parameterization by Tolman and Chalikov (1996) has been compared with the one proposed by Ardhuin et al. 2010, set up with the parameterization by Bidlot et al., 2005, and with the set known as ACC350. The obtained results reveal that the ACC350 parameterization works better in severe conditions, though tends to overestimate wave height and underestimate period. A further sensitivity analysis in the parameters space is carried out around ACC350 parameterization, finding that variations in the default set of parameters, involving small wave growth reduction or an increase of energy dissipation, lead to a slight improvement of the overall simulation performances.

Extreme waves seasonality analysis: An application in the Mediterranean Sea

A nonstationary model based on a time-dependent version of the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD)-Poisson point process model has been implemented and applied to model extreme wave heights in the Mediterranean basin. Thirty-two years of wave hindcast data have been provided by a forecast/hindcast numerical chain model operational at the University of Genoa (www.dicca.unige.it/meteocean). The nonstationary behavior of wave height maxima prompted the modeling of GEV parameters with harmonic functions. Harmonics have been introduced to model seasonal cycles within a year, also taking into account long-term trend and covariates effects. The model has been applied on eight locations corresponding to buoys belonging to the RON (Rete Ondametrica Nazionale), chosen in order to represent best the main features and variability of waves along the Italian coast. The best performing model is chosen among a large set of possible candidates identified by different combinations of wave heights maxima and model parameters. Direct comparison with stationary results has been performed; furthermore, the model has demonstrated a good performance in gathering different seasonal behaviors related to the main meteorological forcing standing on the Mediterranean Sea. Trends related to extreme significant wave heights have also been evaluated in order to offer some insight into decadal-scale wave climate. Results achieved show how the use of a nonstationary statistical model together with the analysis of the main meteorological forcings characterizing the area could prove useful in understanding wave climate related to atmospheric dynamics.

Lagrangian mixing in straight compound channels

Recently Stocchino & Brocchini ( J. Fluid Mech ., vol. 643, 2010, p. 425 have studied the dynamics of two-dimensional (2D) large-scale vortices with vertical axis evolving in a straight compound channel under quasi-uniform flow conditions. The mixing processes associated with such vortical structures are here analysed through the results of a dedicated experimental campaign. Time-resolved Eulerian surface velocity fields, measured using a 2D particle-image velocimetry system, form the basis for a Lagrangian analysis of the dispersive processes that occur in compound channels when the controlling physical parameters, i.e. the flow depth ratio ( r h ) and the Froude number ( Fr ) are changed. Lagrangian mixing is studied by means of various approaches based either on single-particle or multiple-particle statistics (relative and absolute statistics, probability density functions (p.d.f.s) of relative displacements and finite-scale Lyapunov exponents). Absolute statistics reveal that transitional macrovortices, typical of shallow flow conditions, strongly influence the growth in time of the total absolute dispersion, after the initial ballistic regime, leading to a non-monotonic behaviour. In deep flow conditions, on the contrary, the absolute dispersion displays a monotonic growth because the generation of transitional macrovortices does not take place. In all cases an asymptotic diffusive regime is reached. Multiple-particle dynamics is controlled by r h and Fr . Different growth regimes of the relative diffusivity have been found depending on the flow conditions. This behaviour can be associated with different energy transfer processes and it is further confirmed by the p.d.f.s of relative displacements, which show a different asymptotical shape depending on the separation scales and the Froude number. Finally, an equilibrium regime is observed for all the experiments by analysing the decay of the finite-scale Lyapunov exponents with the particle separations.