The flow in surf-zone waves

An extended set of Boussinesq equations, which are used to model breaking waves, is derived. The wave breaking is described by accounting for the effect of vorticity generated by the breaking process. The vorticity field in the domain is obtained by solving the vorticity transport, which is based on the Reynolds equations. The boundary conditions to solve for the vorticity are obtained from measurements in hydraulic jumps. In addition to predicting the wave height decay and profile deformation, the present model also provides information about the velocity field. Comparisons with laboratory measurements show that the model results give good agreement with experimental data for wave height, set-up and the velocity profiles. The undertow profiles predicted by the model are also in good agreement with the results from experimental data. The cross-shore variation of the radiation stress calculated from the model results gives a good representation of the results from experimental data. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.