1 Field Data Collection at Coastal Inlets

overview guidance on the collection of field data at coastal inlets. It contains a method for planning a data collection program and identifies parameters, methods, and equipment useful for analyzing conditions at the site. BACKGROUND: Coastal inlets are the conduits for water, material, and small waterborne animals and plants between the oceans and bays, estuaries, and lagoons. The Operation and Maintenance (O&M) activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) involve navigation channel dredging and preservation of the beaches adjacent to inlets, as well as preservation of water quality and environmental conditions (USACE Engineer Manual 1993). These activities frequently require field measurements in support of numerical and physical modeling efforts associated with inlet processes. This CETN concerns techniques and strategies for making measurements in the energetic and complex inlet environment, based on experience and developments of the Coastal Inlets Research Program (CIRP) and mission-support activities. Because each inlet has its particular combination of hydraulic processes, configuration, and engineering structures (or absence of structures), a data collection program is adapted to capture the leading parameters at the appropriate location at each inlet.