In-situ and Land-Based Remote Sensing of River Inlets and Their Interaction with Coastal Waters

An observational program applying a broad suite of in-situ and boat-based remote sensing tools to the New River inlet and its interaction with the ocean was implemented during the RIVET I experiment. Of particular interest was the flow of the river through and within the inlet; wave breaking within the inlet as a result of shoaling and wave-current interactions; and the fate, dilution, and transport of the river plume as it discharges into the ocean. The discharge and its subsequent transport was dependent on volume, velocity, momentum and temporal variability of the flow; geometric characteristics of the inlet, channels and receiving waters; extent of a tidal prism within the inlet and influence of tides in modulating the flow; the ocean wave climate and wave current interactions and location of breaking within the inlet; and density differences between the river flow and the synoptic conditions of the coastal ocean into which it discharges. The goal was to develop and implement an observational program to best capture this dynamic and complex environment.