Appendix D
1
Field Data Collection
This appendix provides background information to supplement material
presented in Chapter 4 of Volume I of this report.
Introduction
This appendix provides background information on the field data collection
in and around the entrance to Grays Harbor between 2001 and 2002 as part of the
Study of North Jetty Performance and Entrance Navigation Channel
Maintenance, Grays Harbor, Washington. Pacific International (PI) Engineering,
PLLC conducted field measurements, data processing, and analysis for the U.S.
Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal Hydraulics
Laboratory (CHL) under its Broad Agency Announcement contract DACW42-
01-C-0002. An overview of the data collection program is followed by
descriptions of the data collection methods and equipment, deployment methods,
data recovery, data processing and quality checks, and time-series plots of the
measured parameters. Further information on the platform design, instrument
configuration and deployment methods can be found in Osborne, Hericks, and
Kraus (2002a).
High-quality field measurements are an integral part of the design process for
new and existing coastal engineering projects. A key to success in modeling is a
field measurement program to obtain as much information as possible about
forcing (input) parameters and, especially, model output parameters. Calibration
and verification data assist in reducing uncertainty of model output so that final
results become useful, quantitative approximations (Kamphuis 2000). Carefully
collected, high-resolution field measurements yield valuable insights to aid in the
interpretation of processes active in a project area.
One of the major challenges in the northeastern Pacific Ocean is to obtain
field measurements when large breaking waves and strong currents are present
most of the time, particularly in the surf zone and in close proximity to coastal
structures such as jetties and breakwaters. Conventional methods such as
SCUBA diver assistance or over-the-side vessel deployments are not feasible in
such environments in terms of safety, economics, and logistics. Alternative
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Written by Philip D. Osborne and David B. Hericks, Pacific International Engineering, PLLC,
Edmonds, Washington.
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Appendix D
Field Data Collection
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