Observations of surfzone alongshore pressure gradients onshore of an ebb-tidal delta

The relative importance of radiation stress gradients and alongshore pressure gradients to surfzone dynamics is investigated using observations of water levels, waves, and flows measured onshore of a large ebb-tidal delta. Incident wave heights measured along the ~11-m depth contour varied about 10% over a 1.2-km alongshore transect, resulting in alongshore wave setup differences on the order of 10cm over the 600-m extent of the surfzone instrument array in 1.5-m depth. Despite the moderate alongshore variability in wave heights, the southerly alongshore pressure gradient, associated with the alongshore variability of wave-driven set-up, was typically twice as large as the northerly radiation stress gradient forcing, consistent with the observed southerly currents during the week-long experiment. The magnitude of the alongshore forcing and resulting alongshore velocity is reproduced by the two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical model of Shi et al. (JGR-Oceans, 2011). These observations, together with the numerical results, indicate that moderate alongshore wave height gradients (O(10-4)) outside the surfzone owing to alongshore variations in the offshore bathymetry can result in alongshore pressure gradients that are larger than radiation stress gradients. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.