Preliminary Results Through February 2013
Only three months of data has been obtained to date. Initial beach profiles were constructed in early to mid-November. The profiles of mid-December displayed relatively little change; although, particularly strong trade wind-driven longshore current along the southwest shore did appear to drive sediment westward a bit from Kekaha to PMRF. Our mid-January profiles did display significant changes at several of our beach profile localities. A series of large North Pacific swells were recorded during the intervening month, between the December and January observations. The beach at Majors Bay (PMRF) revealed a decrease in width of more than 70 meters, from greater than 175 meters to less than 105 meters, while the beach at MacArthur Park (Kekaha) displayed an increase in width of 35 meters, from about 45 to 80 meters. Sand was also observed to be accumulating a bit eastward to the park toward Kekaha. However, south shore waves have continued to reflect off the highway revetment creating a high-energy environment, making deposition of sand along the highway difficult. Results to date are encouraging, but of course we have a long way to go with this investigation. Our next beach surveys are planned for the middle of February, weather and surf permitting.
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