Rincón Field Site
Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean archipelago are an ideal location to carry out fundamental and applied research in oceanography, coastal hydrodynamics and ocean engineering. One of the most interesting study sites is located in the town of Rincón, Puerto Rico. Rincón is subject to a highly energetic wave climate from winter storms and tropical storms and hurricanes, with breaking wave heights in excess of 30'. Ocean currents are moderate to strong, driven mostly by tides but modulated by large-scale baroclinic forcing. Severe long term erosion has occurred in many Rincón beaches, and the connection between wave forcing, large scale currents and the regional sediment budget remains an open question. This makes Rincón an ideal test bed to calibrate numerical wave, circulation and sediment transport models while at the same time elucidating the phenomena responsible for the disappearance of its beaches.
Illustration by Oliver Bencosme (UPR Sea Grant)
With support from UPR Sea Grant, CARICOOS and the University of Puerto Rico, several instrument deployments and model implementations have been conducted for the study site.
Extreme hydrodynamic forcing
Rincón is subject to a highly energetic wave climate from winter storms and tropical storms and hurricanes, with breaking wave heights in excess of 30'.
model testing
BOUSS2D, SWAN and FVCOM models, among others, have been tested at the Rincón field site.
Coastal erosion
Severe long term erosion has ocurred in many Rincon beaches (courtesy of Luis Aponte / Francisco Villafañe)