Canopy resistance on oscillatory flows

Abstract

Aquatic vegetation in the coastal zone dissipates wave energy and provides a form of natural coastal protection against storm waves. The capacity of aquatic vegetation to attenuate incident waves depends on the extent to which wave energy is dissipated by small-scale hydrodynamic interactions within a canopy, which in turn depends on the work done by drag forces exerted by the canopy. Canopy drag forces (and hence rates of wave dissipation) are conventionally parameterised using a drag coefficient (Cd). Existing empirical models for predicting Cd are usually dependent solely on either Reynolds number (Re) or Keulegan–Carpenter number (KC), and hence neglect the potential effect of vegetation..