Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Martins, Vitor

Committee Member

Sparks, Eric

Committee Member

Tagert, Mary Love

Date of Degree

8-7-2025

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only

Major

Biosystems Engineering

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

James Worth Bagley College of Engineering

Department

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Abstract

This study aims to determine if in-situ based wave energy inputs change the output recommendations of a fetch-based shoreline management model (SMM) differently in river sites and bay sites. To collect wave data, gauges were deployed in two-week increments for five months at 12 sites in Biloxi Back Bay, MS. Average wave height (Havg), significant wave height (Hs), and cumulative wave power per day (Pc) were calculated from the gauge data and used to characterize each site’s wave energy. The SMM was run once with fetch-based inputs and once with each of the in-situ inputs (Havg, Hs, and Pc). Each metric caused a change in recommendation from the fetch-based model, but only Hs caused a change that was statistically significant between river and bay sites. The overall change in recommendations due to each metric supports the need for shoreline managers to make management decisions based on comprehensive in-situ data.

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