Evaluation Of The Beach Erosion Process In Varadero, Matanzas, Cuba: Effects Of Different Hurricane Trajectories

• Main Authors: Diaz, Ana Gabriela, Córdova, Luis Fermín, Jr., Lamazares, Roberto
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Zenodo 2016
• Subjects: Beach; erosion; mathematical model; coastal areas.; Caballero; Espa; Izquierdo; Rojas; Varadero; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1124041; https://zenodo.org/record/1124041

The island of Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles, is located in the tropical North Atlantic. It is annually affected by numerous weather events, which have caused severe damage to our coastal areas. In the same way that many other coastlines around the world, the beautiful beaches of the Hicacos Peninsula also suffer from erosion. This leads to a structural regression of the coastline. If measures are not taken, the hotels will be exposed to the advance of the sea, and it will be a serious problem for the economy. With the aim of studying the intensity of this type of activity, specialists of group of coastal and marine engineering from CIH, in the framework of the research conducted within the project MEGACOSTAS 2, provide their research to simulate extreme events and assess their impact in coastal areas, mainly regarding the definition of flood volumes and morphodynamic changes in sandy beaches. The main objective of this work is the evaluation of the process of Varadero beach erosion (the coastal sector has an important impact in the country's economy) on the Hicacos Peninsula for different paths of hurricanes. The mathematical model XBeach, which was integrated into the Coastal engineering system introduced by the project of MEGACOSTA 2 to determine the area and the more critical profiles for the path of hurricanes under study, was applied. The results of this project have shown that Center area is the greatest dynamic area in the simulation of the three paths of hurricanes under study, showing high erosion volumes and the greatest average length of regression of the coastline, from 15- 22 m. : {"references": ["Beven J. \"Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Michelle\". National Hurricane Center, January, 2002.", "Caballero V.C, Cabrera J.H, Consuegra B.L, Mena A. E, Rojas L.L y Florido A.V. \"Diagn\u00f3stico F\u00edsico-Ambiental de la playa de Varadero. (Tramo Oasis-Playa Las Calaveras\". Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnolog\u00eda, y Medio Ambiente. Varadero, Cuba, 2001.", ". \"Crosshore Sediment Transport\", Coastal Engineering Manual, Coastal Engineering Research Center, USA, 2000.", "\"Longshore Sediment Transport \", Coastal Engineering Manual, Coastal Engineering Research, USA, 2000.", "Coastal Engineering Manual, USA, 1990.", "C\u00f3rdova L.L y Torres R.H. \"Estudio y Cuantificaci\u00f3n de la erosi\u00f3n en el tramo Meli\u00e1; Varadero. Propuesta de Soluci\u00f3n\". Informe T\u00e9cnico. Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Jos\u00e9 Antonio Echeverr\u00eda. Ciudad de la Habana, noviembre, 2008.", "Delft University of Technology. \"SWAN User Manual\", 2010.", "Fern\u00e1ndez S.H. \"Aplicaci\u00f3n de los modelos SWAN y XBEACH para el estudio de perfiles de playas de arena ante el paso de una tormenta\". Trabajo de Diploma. Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Jos\u00e9 Antonio Echeverr\u00eda, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba, 2010.", "Izquierdo M.A. \"Estudio de la din\u00e1mica litoral en la playa de Varadero, Cuba\". Tesina de Master. Universidad de Cantabria. Santander, Espa\u00f1a 2004.\n[10]\tKnabb R., Brown D. and Rhome J. \"Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Rita\". National Hurricane Center. March, 2006.\n[11]\tLamazares R.G. \"Determinaci\u00f3n de las caracter\u00edsticas del oleaje asociado a dos tipolog\u00edas de eventos me teorol\u00f3gicos extremos en la zona del Malec\u00f3n utilizando el modelo matem\u00e1tico SWAN\". Trabajo de Diploma. Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Jos\u00e9 Antonio Echeverr\u00eda. Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba 2009.\n[12]\tMc Call, R.T. \"Two-dimensional time dependent hurricane overwashand erosion modeling at Santa Rosa Island\".\n[13]\tMitrani I.A. \"Asimilaci\u00f3n de modelos a mesoescala, combinados para la predicci\u00f3n de la circulaci\u00f3n atmosf\u00e9rica y el oleaje, en territorio cubano y mares adyacentes\". Informe de Resultado Cient\u00edfico. CFA-ISMET. La Habana, 2009.\n[14]\tMitrani I.A. \"Utilizaci\u00f3n del modelo num\u00e9rico de \u00e1rea limitada MM5V3 para la predicci\u00f3n del tiempo sobre Cuba\". Curso de Postgrado. CFA-ISMET, 2004.\n[15]\tRoelvink D. \"XBeach Model Description and Manual\". Unesco-IHE Institute for Water Education, Deltares and Delft University of Technology. Report. Junio, 2010.\n[16]\tVanBentum K., Duijndam L., Groendijk L. and Knipping D. \"Varadero Beach, creating a better coastal situation near the Meli\u00e1 Hotels\". Delft University of Technology.Havana, Junio 2010.\n[17]\tVan Dam C.A.J, Van Dijk M.D, Lausman R.F, Over R.W.J and Segboer T.J, \"Erosion of the Peninsula de HicacosVaradero Beach, Cuba\". Quantification of the Potential sediment transport and proposed solutions. Delft University of Technology. Havana, Cuba 2003.\n[18]\thttp://www.met.inf.cu/asp/genesis.asp?TB0=PLANTILLAS&TB1=OPTION&TB2=/contenidos/biblioteca/informacion/informaciongeneral.htm (2001.11.03; 19:25, Copyright \u00a9 1997-2016. INSMET \u00ae Todos los derechos reservados)\n[19]\thttp://www.met.inf.cu/sometcuba/boletin/v08_n01/temp_03.htm (2001.11.03; 19:25, Copyright \u00a9 1997-2016. INSMET \u00ae Todos los derechos reservados)"]}