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Water level and velocity measurements from the 2012 University of Western Australia Fringing Reef Experiment (UWAFRE)

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2020-10-19T00:00:00Z
This data release contains water level and velocity measurements from wave runup experiments performed in a laboratory flume setting. Wave-driven water level variability (and runup at the shoreline) is a significant cause of coastal flooding induced by storms. Wave runup is challenging to predict, particularly along tropical coral reef-fringed coastlines due to the steep bathymetric profiles and large bottom roughness generated by reef organisms. The 2012 University of Western Australia Fringing Reef Experiment (UWAFRE) measured water levels and velocities for sixteen wave and offshore (still) water level conditions on a 1:36 geometric scale fringing reef profile with and without bottom roughness. Experiments were performed in a 55-m long wave flume (Eastern Scheldt Flume) at Deltares, the Netherlands. These data accompany the following publications: Buckley, M.L., Lowe, R.J., Hansen, J.E., and van Dongeren, A.R., 2015, Dynamics of wave setup over a steeply sloping fringing reef: Journal of Physical Oceanography, v. 45, p. 3005-3023, https://doi.org/10.1175/Jpo-D-15-0067.1 Buckley, M.L., Lowe, R.J., Hansen, J.E., and van Dongeren, A.R., 2016, Wave setup over a fringing reef with large bottom roughness: Journal of Physical Oceanography, v. 46, p. 2317-2333, https://doi.org/10.1175/Jpo-D-15-0148.1 Buckley, M.L., Lowe, R.J., Hansen, J.E., van Dongeren, A.R., and Storlazzi, C.D., 2018, Mechanisms of wave-driven water level variability on reef-fringed coastlines: Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JC013933.

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