Kaiser, M.F., 2014. Disturbance of hydrodynamic regime in the Mediterranean coastal zone of Egypt.
Engineering structures induce variations in the physical parameters of incident waves approaching coastlines, affecting the rate of longshore sediment transport and the patterns of shoreline change. Landsat Thematic Mapper images acquired from 1990 to 2005 and field measurements were utilized to perform mathematical modeling along Mediterranean coastal zones in Egypt. The K1 transport coefficient values used to calibrate the models ranged from 0.05 to 0.9. To accommodate changes in the physical conditions, a second calibration was required. The K1 transport coefficient values determined by the second calibration ranged from 0.1 to 0.7. These results indicate that the hydrodynamic regime along the Nile Delta coastal zones during 1995–2000 (verification) and 2000–2005 (second calibration) was disturbed by the effect of engineering works. Therefore, the calibration parameters used in simulations before 1995 are not appropriate for use after 1995. These findings demonstrate how the physical parameters of waves and currents are disturbed after some protective structures are modified.