Clark, S. Jeanette; Becker, Janet M.; Merrifield, Mark A.; Behrens, James (2020). Data from: The influence of a cross-reef channel on the wave-driven setup and circulation at Ipan, Guam. UC San Diego Library Digital Collections. https://doi.org/10.6075/J01V5C9V

Currents, waves and water level observations from the field program of Clark et al. 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015722).

Abstract: The influence of a deep (30 m), narrow (30 m) cross-shore channel on the circulation and wave-induced setup over a shallow (~0.5 m) and wide (~400 m) shore-attached fringing reef is examined using field measurements collected at Ipan, Guam. Mean currents on the reef flat over a seven-week study period during mid and high tides when the reef is submerged are directed toward the channel with the alongshore component of the current increasing with proximity to the channel. The cross-shore component of the reef-flat current is directed onshore at the sensors in the far field of the channel with a weak offshore flow at the current meter located closest to the channel ~760 m to the north). Low-frequency fluctuations of the alongshore reef flat current and off-shore channel current are significantly correlated, and with the incident significant wave height. Mean and low frequency fluctuating currents are forced by the spatially variable wave-driven setup, modulated by tidal elevation, which creates a pressure gradient over the reef flat due to the channel where waves do not break. The dominant alongshore momentum balance on the reef flat is between the pressure gradient and bottom stress, with an inferred drag coefficient of C_D~0.01. A simple analytical model is presented that is consistent with the observations and delineates the near- and far-field of the channel as a function of the aspect ratio of the reef. Observations from a longer deployment of channel currents are highly correlated with incident wave height in distinct tidal level bands.

• 2011 to 2012

• 2020

• Becker, Janet M.
• Behrens, James
• Clark, S. Jeanette
• Merrifield, Mark A.

This work was supported by the Army Corps of Engineers via both a subcontract from the University of California, San Diego (PO 1036151) and project W912HZ-14-2-0025, and by the National Science Foundation (OCE 0927407).

• Ipan, Guam

• Coral reefs
• Nearshore oceanography
• Ocean currents
• Wave-driven circulation

Point: 13.3852, 144.7775

• data
• text

• English

Identifier: Janet M. Becker: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-4095

Doi: https://doi.org/10.6075/J01V5C9V

Primary associated publication

• Clark, S. J., Becker, J. M., Merrifield, M. A., & Behrens, J. (2020). The influence of a cross-reef channel on the wave-driven setup and circulation at Ipan, Guam. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, e2019JC015722. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JC015722

Source data

• The buoy wave data are available from the Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP, Station 121): https://cdip.ucsd.edu/m/products/?stn=121p1
• The Pago Bay wind data are available from the National Data Buoy Center (Station PGBP7): https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=pgbp7

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2022-11-28