Investigation on the effects of Bragg reflection on harbor oscillations

Abstract Periodic undulating topographies (such as sandwaves and sandbars) are very common in coastal and estuarine areas. Normally incident water surface waves propagating from open sea to coastal areas may interact strongly with such topographies. The wave reflection by the periodic undulating topography can be significantly amplified when the surface wavelength is approximately twice the wavelength of the bottom undulations, which is often called as Bragg resonant reflection. Although the investigations on the hydrodynamic characteristics related to Bragg reflection of a region of undulating topography have been widely implemented, the effects of Bragg reflection on harbors have not yet been studied. Bragg resonant reflection can effectively reduce the incident waves. Meanwhile, however, it can also significantly hinder the wave radiation from the harbor entrance to the open sea. Whether Bragg reflection can be utilized as a potential measure to alleviate harbor oscillations is unknown. In the present study, Bragg reflection and their interactions with the harbor are simulated using a fully nonlinear Boussinesq model, FUNWAVE 2.0. For the purpose, an elongated harbor with constant depth is considered, and a series of sinusoidal bars with various amplitudes and numbers are deployed outside the harbor. The incident waves considered in this paper include regular long waves and bichromatic short wave groups. It is revealed for the first time that for both kinds of incident waves, Bragg resonant reflection can significantly alleviate harbor resonance. The influences of the number and the amplitude of sinusoidal bars on the mitigation effect of harbor resonance and on the optimal wavelength of sinusoidal bars that can achieve the best mitigation effect are comprehensively investigated, and it is found that the former two factors have remarkable influences on the latter two parameters. The present research provides a new option for the mitigation of harbor oscillations via changing the bottom profile, which is feasible as long as the navigating depth is guaranteed.