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ADDRESSING the INTERNATIONAL RIP CURRENT HEALTH HAZARD a Dissertation by SARAH MARGARET TRIMBLE Submitted to the Office of Grad

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ADDRESSING the INTERNATIONAL RIP CURRENT HEALTH HAZARD a Dissertation by SARAH MARGARET TRIMBLE Submitted to the Office of Grad ADDRESSING THE INTERNATIONAL RIP CURRENT HEALTH HAZARD A Dissertation by SARAH MARGARET TRIMBLE Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Christopher Houser Committee Members, Christian Brannstrom Michael P. Bishop Anthony Filippi Ryan Ewing Head of Department, David Cairns December 2017 Major Subject: Geography Copyright 2017 Sarah Margaret Trimble ABSTRACT Rip currents are concentrated seaward flows of water originating in the surf zone of beaches that are responsible for hundreds of injuries and fatal drownings worldwide annually. Calculating the exact number of deaths is hindered by logistical difficulties in collecting accurate incident reports, but the estimated annual average is about 59 in the United States (US), 53 in Costa Rica, and 21 in Australia. Previous research shows rip drownings are caused by a combination of personal and group behaviors with the physical environment. The co- incidence of a rip and swimmers, the ‘hazard,’ results from gaps in knowledge and in communication: we do not know how to accurately predict rip currents, and existing scientific understanding hasn’t fully infiltrated the practiced knowledge of the general public or policy makers designing beach access. This dissertation presents five papers examining the geophysical and social causes of rip-related deaths. Paper 1 reviews present rip current knowledge. Paper 2 demonstrates a novel method for mapping bathymetry within rip channels – topographic low spots in the nearshore resulting from feedback amongst waves, substrate, and antecedent bathymetry. The location and orientation of rip channels are investigated in Paper 3, which analyzes the degree of anisotropy in bathymetric surfaces. Paper 4 builds on rip detection by evaluating beachgoer knowledge alongside rip presence to evaluate physical environment control on swimmer exposure. Finally, because current research demonstrates lifeguard presence is a highly effective mitigation against drowning, Paper 5 identifies one way communities may fund beach lifeguard programs. Thus, the dissertation provides both cutting edge methods to improve prediction and warning systems with the geocomputation demonstrated in papers 2 and 3, and ii it provides more affordable short-term mitigation practices in papers 4 and 5, for increasing safety by designing and building geomorphologically informed beach access and funding lifeguard programs. As a whole, the dissertation evaluates both human and physical geographies of rip currents, a naturally occurring phenomenon that becomes hazardous when entered by vulnerable individuals. Results can inform policy makers of a range of rip fatality mitigation methods: developing frequent nearshore maps to observe rip channel behavior, automating the detection of rip channels, designing beach access controls informed by morphology, and funding lifeguard programs. iii DEDICATION To my dear friends black coffee and straight bourbon, for keeping me focused during early mornings and inspired through late nights. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe tremendous thanks to several institutions and individuals who supported me during my dissertation work, and without whom this project could not have been completed. Chris, Rob, and countless fellow graduate students have shaped the thought processes and helped guide the tumultuous brainstorms that led to this completed document. On a more personal note, I would like to say thank you to my pops: who still loves me unconditionally, even when Rush Limbaugh says he should not. I am also grateful to my mum, who taught me to do no harm, but also to take no …“shirt” (whether she meant to or not). To Michael and Lindsay, I am still thankful for your endless patience. And to Andy: without you, I probably would have finished an entire year earlier, but then all the following years would have been without you, too. I’m so glad we’re on this path instead. Thank you for flying to Australia. v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES Contributors This work was supervised by a dissertation committee chaired by Dr. Chris Houser [advisor] while in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University and through his transition to Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Windsor. Additional committee members included faculty from Texas A&M University: Dr. Christian Brannstrom, Dr. Michael P. Bishop, and Dr. Anthony Filippi of the Department of Geography, as well as Dr. Ryan Ewing of the Department of Geology and Geophysics. All work for the dissertation was completed by the student, under the advisement of the committee members. Pete Chirico of the US Geological Survey provided data and impactful ideas critical to developing the methodology outlined in Paper 2. Dr. Michael P. Bishop wrote the software program that produced the anisotropic indices analyzed in Paper 3. Fellow Texas A&M University graduate students Dr. Phillipe Wernette, Andrew Evans, and Eric Guenther often provided valuable feedback during methods development for all sections. Dr. Robert Brander, of the University of New South Wales, helped collect data critical to Papers 2, 3, and 4; all analysis was completed by the student with assistance in data preprocessing provided by Dr. M. Jak McCarroll and Ben Van Leeuwen while they were at the University of New South Wales. Interviews discussed in Paper 5 were collected with the help of graduate student Andrew Evans and undergraduates Stephanie Reyes, Marian Gomez, and Garrison Goessler while they were enrolled at Texas A&M University. vi Funding Sources This work was made possible in part by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Academy of Science, which together provided the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute fellowship (Award #1515522) that funded research and data collection in Australia used in Papers 2, 3, and 4. The dissertations’ contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of these awarding offices. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES .................................................................. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ xi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... xvi 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................3 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................3 2.2 The role of rip currents in surf zone circulation ..............................................................5 2.3 Rip currents and drowning .............................................................................................15 2.4 Beach user knowledge of rip currents ............................................................................17 2.5 Existing safety programs ...............................................................................................21 2.6 Recent research into human/rip current interactions .....................................................27 2.7 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................35 3. MAPPING NEARSHORE BATHYMETRY AND RIP CHANNELS OF INTERMEDIATE BEACHES WITH WORLDVIEW3 MULTISPECTRAL DATA .......36 3.1 Abstract ..........................................................................................................................36 3.2 Introduction ....................................................................................................................37 3.2.1 Rip currents and rip channel morphology ...............................................................39 3.2.2 Bathymetric mapping ..............................................................................................42 3.3 Study site ........................................................................................................................51 3.4 Methods .........................................................................................................................55 3.4.1 Field data collection ................................................................................................56 3.4.2 WorldView data ......................................................................................................58 3.4.3 DEM development ..................................................................................................58 3.5 Discussion of Results .....................................................................................................61 3.5.1 Calculating the depth
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