CLIMATE CONTROL ON WINTER WAVE ACTIVITY IN THE NORTHEAST ATLANTIC AND IMPACTS ON BEACH EROSION AND RECOVERY ALONG THE WEST COAST OF EUROPE

• Published in: Coastal Sediments 2019
• Main Authors: Castelle, Bruno, Dodet, Guillaume, Masselink, Gerd, Scott, Tim
• Other Authors: Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique (LETG - Brest), Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique UMR 6554 (LETG), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université d'Angers (UA)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Géographie et d'Aménagement Régional de l'Université de Nantes (IGARUN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN), Plymouth University, ANR-17-CE01-0014,SONO,Marier les objectifs de défense côtière avec ceux de la protection du milieu naturel grâce aux dunes sableuses(2017)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; North East Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02394996; https://hal.science/hal-02394996/document; https://hal.science/hal-02394996/file/Castelle_Dodet.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811204487_0041

International audience The west coast of Europe is exposed to high-energy winter waves generated in the North Atlantic Ocean by low pressure systems traveling eastward. The present study builds on recent research on atmospheric and ocean wave climate in the North East Atlantic over the last 70 years using numerical weather and wave hindcast, in-situ sea-level pressure measurements, and beach response from a unique dataset of decadal beach morphological changes along the west coast of Europe. Interannual to decadal variability of winter wave activity in the North East Atlantic is strongly affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the West Europe Pressure Anomaly (WEPA). It is found that extreme winter-mean wave heights become more frequent and variability increases, resulting in extreme winters such as that of 2013/14. We show that the recovery signature is site-specific and multi-annual, and that interannual variability of both erosion and recovery is well correlated with WEPA and NAO.