Details:

Journal Title:
Journal of Great Lakes Research
Personal Author:
Liu, Yuli ; Wu, Chin H.
Liu, Yuli ; Wu, Chin H. Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
Sea Grant ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research)
Sea Grant ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) Less -
Sea Grant Program:
WISCU (Wisconsin Sea Grant)
Description:
Rip currents near coastal structures commonly occur in Lake Michigan in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Lack of timely warning due to undocumented characteristics of rip currents and no assessment tool can contribute to tragic drownings incidents. In this paper, we characterized rip current occurrences near breakwater structures and developed an assessment tool for providing timely rip current warnings to beachgoers at the study site, City of Port Washington, WI. Characteristics of rip currents near the structure were observed from field measurements or visual images. Deflection rip currents had speeds of ∼ 0.2 m/s and lasted for several hours. The rip current occurrences were associated with environmental proxies. It was found that rip currents can occur even when the water appears calm near the structure. A Structure Rip Checklist and Assessment Matrix (SRiCAM) with a four-tiered risk was developed and validated using observations. Furthermore, the SRiCAM was integrated into cyberinfrastructure with a data contingency plan to provide real-time warnings to the public. The applicability of the SRiCAM to other locations across Lake Michigan was further tested and results are promising. Overall, the SRiCAM has the potential to be widely extended to foster recreational water safety and resilience to rip current hazards in the Great Lakes.
Keywords:
[+]
Rip currents
Source:
Journal of Great Lakes Research, 48(3), 645-658
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2022.03.001
ISSN:
0380-1330
Publisher:
Elsevier BV
Document Type:
Journal Article
Place as Subject:
Michigan, Lake
Rights Information:
Accepted Manuscript
Rights Statement:
This manuscript is made available under the Elsevier user license https://www.elsevier.com/open-access/userlicense/1.0/
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:b7c0d8839224b6e1aa2003294c83640dcbfabafedb39333cb73ffec5ed1a713a
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/51617/noaa_51617_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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